How much water to grow our food?…….. Transition Streets 3.20
Melbourne University research looked at the amount of water used in irrigation, to grow the food eaten in Greater Melbourne. This did NOT include natural rainfall, and it does not include the water used in processing food prior to distribution.
The result – 475 litres ( twice the amount of water households use for daily life )
They then looked at the amount of clean recycled water we dump from our treatment plants.
- 84% of this water goes into the sea.
- 6% is currently used to grow food.
- 10% other industries.
and argued that infrastructure spent on storage and connections could provide more than enough irrigation water for Melbourne’s entire fresh food supply.
Tom Danby, Moonee Valley Sustainability, 2020