Enough Water?: A Guide to What We Have and How We Use It

by Steve Conrad (Introduction)

Children are aware that they should not waste water -- "turn off the tap when you brush your teeth", "take a quick shower". But do they understand why? And that they could do more? In Enough Water? children will discover the reasons that water warrants concern. In simple text, the book explains the actual "cost" of the water that sustains their lifestyle. This "water footprint" is the amount of freshwater used to produce the goods and services they consume, including manufacturing, growing, harvesting, packaging, and shipping to market where they buy it. The human water footprint contributes to an irreversible loss of Earth's finite water supply. Aimed at children, the clear infographics show how much water is used to make everyday things -- what they wear, what they eat, and so on. The examples will 240 gallons of water (visually comparable to 240 ice cream containers!) to make a smartphone; 92.5 gallons to make a T-shirt and 2,100 for jeans; and 634 gallons to make a cheeseburger (no toppings). The water footprint of just one bottle of cola is equivalent to 350 bottles of water which if stacked on top of each other would reach the roof of a 25-story building. Enough Water? introduces a cross-section of water issues, including personal and industrial consumption, pollution, irrigation, Earth's limited freshwater supply, and drought which affects all continents. The clever, easily understood infographics raise awareness of how our all-consuming lifestyle is literally made of water. For home, school and the library, Enough Water? is essential for this generation of inquisitive children facing an uncertain future.

72 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2016

Reviews

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with the visual punch of info graphics that allows the reader to quickly grasp the concept of water footprints, this offering from Canada’s Firefly Books would be a good supplement to middle grade classes studying water or the environment. The introduction and the first six chapters provide short but informative text that gives the reader context for understanding the coming info graphics.
The bulk of the next 39 pages takes the reader through the water footprints showing things like how many gallons of water a typical shower takes, how much water it takes to grow common foods, or manufacture things like t-shirts and jeans. The final three chapters give practical ways we can conserve water in our homes, outdoor spaces like lawns and gardens, and our lifestyle like eating less meat and more local produce.

Even though the publisher is Canadian this book takes a North American approach to the presentation of information. Water measurement is given in both metric and U.S. standards. I would highly recommend this book for purchase by any school or public library. It is a good tool for teaching as well as appealing to middle grade readers who would find it on their own.

This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.

[Mrs. Melaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This informational text uses clear explanations and easily understood infographics to introduce young people to the idea of a water footprint by showing how much potable water is required to produce food and other products. In addition to infographics that display the finite amount of drinking water in the world, the majority of the book displays a variety of items and indicates the relative cost in terms of water used to produce each item. It may surprise readers to learn that to produce 2 pounds of beef requires 4,068 gallons of water while 2 pounds of chicken takes a substantially smaller 1,136 gallons. If readers want to compare apples (33 gallons) to oranges (21 gallons) – they can! And they might want to rethink watermelon (264 gallons)! Useful tips for conserving water appear at the end followed by a bibliography, glossary, and index.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bright and colorful, this book invites the reader to think about how much water is used to produce...well absolutely everything.

The annoying part? The preachy tone and the rabid condescending attitude that guarantees you'll not only be paranoid about how much water you're using, but you'll be fighting kids who suddenly want to go vegan because they're terrified their water use is going to be the tipping point for the destruction of the planet as a whole.

While I completely support conservation of water (I live in California, this is very important out here), I find the tone damaging. I showed this book to my daughter for her reaction and she absolutely hated it. This is one to avoid.