Water Quality

Did you know that 71% of the world’s surface is water? So there must be more than enough to go around, mustn't there? Well, no.

That’s because most of this percentage is seawater and seawater is up to seventy times too high in solids. In fact, only 2% of the world’s water is fresh. And about half of that is under ice caps – leaving us with just 1% for drinking purposes.

Let’s look back a few years. In 1961, the average domestic consumption of water for all household purposes, from washing the car to flushing the lavatory, was 24 gallons of water per person, per day. Today, that figure has risen to 37 gallons per person per day and it is continuing to increase.

However, only 2% of this water is used for drinking and cooking. So although we really only require a fraction of our total individual intake to meet drinking water quality requirements, almost all of it is treated to drinking water standards.