About four thousand cubic kilometres of water are consumed around the globe every year in homes, businesses, agriculture and industrial processes.
And households in the western world have a tendency to take more than their fair share; someone in Central Africa will use only about two per cent of the water used by someone in North America.
Click here if you want to read more about what P&G is doing in the developing regions around water, such as with its Children's Safe Drinking Water programme, which has already delivered more than 700 million litres of clean, safe drinking water in developing countries and at times of natural disaster.
In Europe, the average water consumption (including that used in irrigation and agriculture, industry and households) is the equivalent of about 87 cubic metres of water a day.
The level is highest in southern European countries, where the average national water consumption can be as high as 120 cubic metres per inhabitant per day.
This high level of water use (and waste), coupled with changes in our climate, is creating challenges in Europe. According to the European Environment Agency:
- 20 per cent of surface water in the European Union is threatened by pollution.
- 60 per cent of European cities overexploit their ground water resources, which account for 65 per cent of all the drinking water in Europe.
- Half of Europe's wetlands are endangered because of over-exploitation of groundwater.
- The amount of land in Southern Europe that needs to be irrigated has gone up by 20 per cent since 1985.
The issues with water are not just about the lack of it. Since 1998, Europe has experienced more than 100 major floods. And quality, as well as quantity, is important; as water becomes more precious its freshness becomes more critical.
To deal with these issues, it is important to make sure water is used wisely and, where possible, contamination is avoided.
As a water-consuming activity we do every day, washing laundry and dishes and cleaning the home are obvious areas where consumers can make a difference.
P&G has long recognised the need to reduce the environmental impact of its products and today produces detergents that have only a minimal impact on water quality. In addition, it is now easier than ever to cut back on the amount of water used in modern appliances.