Why Water Is The New Gold? [6 Reasons To Think About?]

We all use water every single day.

Unfortunately:

We don’t even realize that soon this crystal clear liquid that is coming out of our faucets will be as precious as gold.

I have decided to write this article on the topic of why water is the new gold of the future.

I will show you six reasons why I claim such a statement.

Beyond that:

I will also include a bonus reason at the end, which is entirely my way of seeing why water is more valuable than gold for me.

I have created a small graphics for such occasion that summarizes pretty much everything said in this article.

So let’s jump straight onto reason number one.

Reason #1: Availability

This is huge:

Availability of water is a massive issue around the globe.

We all know that water covers roughly 70% of the earth’s surface.

We also know that there is roughly 3% of the water that is actually suitable for drinking.

This number is 2.5% to be exact.

But what we don’t know is…

That we divide drinking water into 3 categories based on the form in which water is present.

1. Surface
2. Groundwater
3. Glaciers

So what?

The percentage of water in these categories is the following:

Note that the percentage is just out of the 2.5%.

Now:

Given this situation, we can use only surface and groundwater, which leaves us roughly 31.1% out of 2.5% suitable water.

So do you still think that it is a lot of water that we can waste?

Considering the population growth and constantly increasing demand for water which is the reason number two, such number is absolutely nothing.

Reason #2: Demand & Population Growth

Here is the thing:

Roughly half of the population (3.6bn) live in the area with the potential water-scarce each year.

The current situation is that regions affected by floods are even more flooded and dry areas are becoming drier.

Also, over the billion people don’t have access to safe water at all.

Now:

As the population is growing, the UNESCO predicts that potentially 4.8 – 5.7bn people will have troubles with water supply by 2050.

The truth is:

The global demand is continuously increasing every year by 1%.

There are various reasons for that as earlier mentioned population growth, global economy, but also the development of the infrastructure.

Agricultural usage of water is still a significant contributor to consumption.

Although industrial and domestic usage is predicted to snowball.

Given the fact that demand is constantly increasing and the availability is low, it is likely that the price of water will shoot up which is the reason number three.

Reason #3: Price

Now:

What article would it be if we don’t speak about the money?

So, let’s talk money.

Somehow, I was assuming that the commodity price of the water would be high and historical data would show the increase.

Guess what?

I was dead right about it.

Especially for you, I have found this fantastic graph on the investing.com to show you how was the price changing over the last 10 years.

Now:

As you can see since the last crisis in 2007/8, the world water price was continually increasing.

To be honest:

I believe that this will climb much more in the future unless we find an affordable and sensitive way to desalinate seawater.

And even then, the price will still climb, because we cannot desalinate all sea water as we would interrupt a very delicate ecosystem.

Just as the comparison, here is the historical price of the gold over time.

What can you see?

Yes, that’s right.

I am not going to tell you that gold is bad and you shouldn’t invest in it, because it’s not true. Gold is a good investment.

But as you can see from both graphs, water seems to be more valuable and stable at the moment.

Now:

For me, the growing trend in the price of water commodity is the clear indicator that it is becoming scarce.

You can make your own opinion about that, and I would love to see it in the comment section.

On top of that:

The ASCE organization predicts that over the next 25 years required investment into the drinking water would be over $1 trillion.

Obviously:

I have explained the current situation about the water commodity and only time will show whether I was right.

Please don’t use my assumptions as a direction for your investment and consult with the market expert.

Reason #4: Water Waste

This is a huge topic:

I can talk hours and hours about how we waste our water.

I am not gonna lie, we are all guilty of doing it, and I am not an exception either.

Although, once I live in my own house I will make sure to make it as much water efficient as possible.

Toilet!

This is the most significant contributor to wasted water. I mean every single flush takes on average 3.6 gallons for the old toilet and roughly 1.6 gallons for ultra low flow toilets.

Now:

Per day this would generate roughly between 10 – 19 gallons of flushed water that is suitable for drinking.

Yes, that’s right.

Water that is supplied to the house is coming from one source and is used for the whole household including cooking, flushing, showering.

Essentially, we are flushing drinking water every single day.

So, toilets are a massive contributor to this, but what else?

Think about the time…

When you have brushed your teeth and just left the water from the tap running in your bathroom.

Let’s say that you are brushing your teeth for roughly 3 minutes and the water flow from the tap is about 0.8 – 1 GPM.

That’s 3 gallons of water used just to brush teeth, and imagine that there are for example 4 people in the house.

It gives 12 gallons of drained water in about what, 12 minutes brushing teeth?

Another thing:

Are you using a dishwasher and a washing machine?

Yes?

That is great, you have made your first step to save a tremendous amount of water.

Appliances are using much less water than you would, washing manually.

On top of that, they save a lot of time.

I believe that a tiny amount of the population is still washing the laundry or dishes without the help of the technology.

Let me know in the comment section other ways of how we are wasting water, and I will move to the reason #5.

Reason #5: Conflicts

Seriously:

I believe that the number of conflicts due to water resources will increase.

All the reasons mentioned above will lead to the number of increased conflicts. The two primary reasons I see is the availability and continuously growing demand for water.

Doing my research for this article I have come across this website with the list of all documented conflicts due to water resources.

Beyond that:

It is sorted chronologically, and you can select a time period and type of conflict.

Now:

Since 2000 up till now there was 49 weapon involved conflict due to the water.

All this has happened in just 18 years!

Just to put it into perspective, the website reports only 50 conflicts between 1900 and 1999.

See the trend?

In just 18 years we had the same number of conflicts as in the whole 20th century.

Okay, I will take into consideration that nowadays we live in the time of social media and it takes literally minutes until the news is shared across the world.

So, it is likely that the number of conflicts was more significant in last the last century.

Still…

The trend is pretty strong and I suggest you to have a look at the page and see yourself.

Reason #6: Pollution

Last but not least:

The agriculture sector is the biggest consumer of water, and at the same time due to the use of chemicals to support growth, it is the most significant contributor to pollution.

I mean, they probably have to follow certain standards and have a list of prohibited substances, but it doesn’t change the fact that water is still polluted.

Unfortunately:

Over the billion people don’t have access to the safe water and at the same time, 80% of all illnesses and deaths are caused by poor water in developing countries.

If you are reading this blog, you are probably well aware that even in developed countries water is still far away from what can be considered safe.

Contaminated water combined with low availability creates even less suitable water for use.

The good thing is:

Unlike with the reduced availability, you can do something about polluted water – you can use water filters.

Nevertheless, I am not going to talk about filters in this article as the purpose of this article is to raise the awareness of water consumption.

So this is the last primary reason why I believe that water is more valuable than gold.

Bear with me as I have one bonus reason.Although, I wouldn’t say reason as it more like an opinion.

Bonus Reason

Imagine this:

You have a whole bag of gold, it is heavy, and you need to carry it a long way to the city.

Unfortunately, you don’t have any water to drink and keep you running.

Purposely, I am not going to tell that you are in the desert, you can imagine where you are yourself.

Now, you have become dehydrated, and your organism is failing because, as you know gold is very heavy, and it’s very tiring to carry it on your backs.

So:

As you become more and more tired, you meet a stranger that has a big bottle of water, and he offers it to you in exchange for your bag of gold.

You know that it would take you roughly half of the day to get to the town where water is available, but at the same time, you don’t have any strength to get there.

What would you do?

This is a rhetorical question and some food for thought. Make the conclusion yourself what is more worth for you.

Final Thoughts

The point is that the water is a basic necessity for our body and no gold can replace it or is worth more than that, and yet we are still treating this resource in a way that it is for granted.

Note, that on the scale of the universe, water is scarce compared to gold, diamonds or any other valuable materials.

There are literally planets made of diamonds and gold.

Why are we not grateful for it?

I will be more than happy to read your opinion.

How Can You Help Save The Water?

Just try to bear in mind whenever you use this resource next time how much of it you need and how much you have actually used.

A good idea would be to visit a place with the water shortage as the volunteer to get the perspective of the issue.

Last but not least:

Use water efficient appliances and if you live in the house try to utilize the rainwater as much as you can.

Don’t forget to share the article!

References:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002615/261594e.pdf

https://money.cnn.com/2014/04/24/news/water-gold-price/index.html

http://www.worldwater.org/conflict/list/

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