29 April 2016
How much water to produce a bottle of water?
There are several answers depending on the methodology, and the differences are large enough to fuel some pretty colorful cocktail party debates. What we in the Flathead want to know right now, of course, is how much water the Montana Artesian Water Company will use to produce a bottle of its hoped to be famous (and profitable) deep aquifer water from its well near Egan Slough.
The simple answer: MAWC will use 1.2 liters of water per one-liter bottle. That’s according to information on file with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
When full production is reached, the water initially used for geothermal heating (a groundwater heat pump) will be used to fill bottles. But if that plan changes, the numbers won’t change much.
That’s actually a bit more efficient than the North American average for bottled water.
Landlord, if you want to save water, fill the flowing bowl with water (and ignore the Kingston Trio).
Fortunately, for those who would argue the issue between swigs of punch with punch, there are other ways to calculate a bottle of water’s water footprint.
The water used to produce the plastic in the bottles, the labels, and the rest of the supply chain, can amount to three or more liters for every liter that gets bottled.
The Pacific Institute reckons two liters are needed in addition to the liter that ends up in the bottle.
A spokesperson for the Water Footprint Network, reports National Public Radio, says the total may be higher than the Pacific Institute’s estimate:
Bottled water companies (along with many other beverage companies) should include the water in their supply chain, says Ertug Ercin with the Water Footprint Network. Ercin says a true water footprint includes all freshwater used in production, including the water used for packaging.
“Packaging makes a significant footprint,” he says, adding that three liters of water might be used to make a half-liter bottle. In other words, the amount of water going into making the bottle could be up to six or seven times what’s inside the bottle.
Filling the bottle with booze instead of with dihydrogen monoxide easily puts the water to make number in double figures, with wine being worse than beer, an inconvenient fact for oenophilic snobs.
I’m sure that the more a person objects to the MAWC project, the more that person will be attracted to the biggest arguable water footprint for it. That’s human nature. But I think the facts support a footprint of 1.2 liters of water per one-liter bottle filled.