Bizarre: this many litres of water are needed for 1 litre of Coca-Cola
Trick question: how many litres of water are in a litre of cola? Naturally, you think: never more than a litre. Wrong. Coca-Cola itself says it needs two litres of water to make one litre of cola, but an investigative journalist discovered that it is much more.
Coca-Cola itself says it needs two litres of water to make one litre of cola. That sounds odd, but it’s not so bad: they also need water to rinse the bottles clean before filling them and to clean the machines. According to the company, this water is collected, filtered and reused.
Sugar needs water
But in a 2011 sustainability report, the soft-drinks giant itself states that it actually needs 35 litres of water for one litre of cola. This was calculated by Arjen Hoekstra, professor of water management at the University of Twente. Where does that difference come from? The raw materials used to make cola, such as sugar, also need water. And not just a little: 28 litres of water are needed for the sugar beet in one litre of cola. And that is only in the Netherlands, says scientist Hoekstra: sugar production in other countries requires much more water. If you calculate how much water is really needed in this way, you arrive at more than 70 litres of water.
A start
Coca-Cola aims to save water. On its website, for example, the company writes that it wants to protect local water supplies and natural areas with a unique water-replenishment project. This means that the water used is returned—clean—to nature. The water used for the raw materials is not included, but it is a (tiny) start. For now: if you want to save water, pour yourself a lovely glass from the tap, because cola may be many things, but it is not water-saving.
Read also:
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- Dutch people do not want to pay for tap water on the terrace
Source: NOS.nl
