Summary
While water is abundant at the global scale, only about 3% of Earth’s water is fresh water. Despite the finite limit of the fresh water supply, many water-use activities and frameworks today are still once-through processes. In many regions, groundwater is withdrawn faster than it is replenished. Furthermore the energy required to acquire, treat, transport, reuse, and dispose of water represents up to 4% of electricity demand for most communities and up to 19% in irrigation-intensive or conveyance-intensive regions such as California.
