Session Information

2009 PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONFERENCE

You're Not Going to Drink That, Are You? Taking Water for Granted

How do we develop sustainably given the realities of water quality and quantity? For example, over 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water, with water-borne diseases causing over 1.8 billion deaths a year. In the U.S., where clean water is relatively plentiful, consumers purchase over 20 billion liters (5.3 billion gallons) of bottled water each year – bottled in plastic, derived from crude oil and transported using fossil fuels. On the other hand, Joplin, Missouri, and Atlanta, Georgia – which receive, on average, over 116 cm (46 inches) of rainfall per year – are facing water shortages.