[google is very unhelpful, it’s broken now. I can’t find any posts explaining the specific thing I want to know]
Was asked this question by a friend.
When we say that producing one item of clothing uses x amount of water. She doesn’t see the harm because the water used to grow cotton doesn’t disappear “it’s part of the cycle”.
Pollution must be a factor right? There is a difference between drinking water, saltwater and contaminated water? (Surely they’re not using clean drinking water for production?)
Exasperated by the fact that production is usually performed in areas with poor regulation/infrastructure.
(Is it inherently damaging, or damaging because of how it’s performed?)
Is the water “used” because it becomes vapor? Is it used because the molecules are taken apart? Either way shouldn’t this technically be reversible?
[I am not very articulate, and I find it very difficult to organize my thoughts to words. This question ended up frustratingly inprecise!]
Edit: thanks for the good responses:)
In: Biology
Water is naturally cleaned by evaporation -> rain. Then it gathers in rivers and lakes. This water is relatively cheap to clean enough for household use or drinking water. But there’s a limited amount in each part of the world per year.
Using it for watering, either before or after cleaning, makes it no longer available. Much evaporates, some runs off but becomes more dirty than before.
Cleaning up the used water, or cleaning salt water, or transporting long distance is *much* more expensive. So it’s not something people living there want/can afford. So it’s effectively less water for them.
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