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Water
How animal agriculture impacts the earths water
"A global shift in diets away from livestock products could free significant water resources."
~ Chatham House
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Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Characterised by highly variable climate patterns, Australia faces recurrent droughts and flooding.
Fresh water is critical to the survival of all living beings. It is not only essential for survival, but it is less plentiful than you might imagine. Only 3% of all water on Earth is freshwater, including water frozen in glaciers (which accounts for more than half). Because freshwater is a vital and limited natural resource, the animal agriculture industry's high water use is a growing concern.
Fast Facts
Water Useage
A DEVASTATING FOOTPRINT
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Characterised by highly variable climate patterns, Australia faces recurrent droughts and flooding.
Fresh water is critical to the survival of all living beings. It is not only essential for survival, but it is less plentiful than you might imagine. Only 3% of all water on Earth is freshwater, including water frozen in glaciers (which accounts for more than half). Because freshwater is a vital and limited natural resource, the animal agriculture industry's high water use is a growing concern.
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Every item we consume has a 'water footprint' - a measure of how much water each item takes to produce. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) advises that depending on what you eat, the food eaten by one person requires between 2,000-5,000 litres of water a day. The difference between this scale's low and high ends is our choices between animal products and plant-based options. Meat scores much higher than most plant-based products, with beef, pork and chicken requiring 9, 4 and 3 times more water than cereals grains.
Raising animals for food or fibre is thirsty work. Animals drink vast amounts of water each day of their lives, but the amount they consume only adds a tiny fraction to the water footprint of their resulting products. A study by Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2010) found that the vast majority, approximately 98%, of the water is used to grow animal feed crops. In 2020/21 in Australia, 2.1 Megalitres of water was used to irrigate crops and hay that fed livestock. Further to this water use, factory farms such as intensive piggeries and dairy farms use a vast amount of water for daily cleaning. At the tail end of the processes, slaughterhouses add significantly to the water consumption tally of animal products (Australian slaughterhouses can use 18,000 litres of water to produce 650kg of meat) (on average, 9,400 litres is used to produce 650kg of meat).
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The proportion of water used to produce animal products is immense. It's estimated that meat and dairy are responsible for around 33 to 40% of all agriculture's water use. Given that animal products only provide 18 per cent of the world's calories, this is an inefficient use of a minimal resource.
Pollution
FRESHWATER IN - WASTE OUT
The production of animal food products is the most significant agricultural cause of water pollution. Animal manure, antibiotics and hormones, fertilisers and pesticides used in forage production, and pasture rainfall runoff contribute to animal agriculture's impact on water pollution.
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Animal agriculture produces copious quantities of waste. According to Haines and Staley, "a farm with 2,500 dairy cattle is similar in waste load to a city with 411,000 people."
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Animal waste typically contains high levels of Nitrogen and phosphorus and may also contain veterinary medicine and pesticide residues, pathogenic viruses, and bacteria. These can seep into the soil, causing soil degradation, and after rain, leach or runoff into groundwater reserves or waterways, causing excessive algal blooms and plant and animal deaths.
Oceanic Deadzones
SUFFOCATING THE EARTHS LUNGS
Although most people think of rainforests as the lungs of the earth, the reality is that our oceans are vital for creating oxygen and storing carbon. In fact, the ocean produces between 50 and 80% of oxygen and consumes more than 25% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) of the planet. Ocean dead zones threaten more than those living within them.
Nutrient run-off from animal agriculture significantly contributes to oxygen depletion in coastal waters, driving the over-enrichment of waters with nutrients. Excess nutrients from the waste of farmed animals leach into waterways. Overabundant nutrients can lead to an overgrowth of algae leading to algal blooms that contain dangerous levels of toxins. When oxygen levels in a part of the ocean drop extremely low, the area becomes uninhabitable, and entire ecosystems die, creating an ocean-dead zone.
Ocean dead zones can sometimes form naturally, but the effects of climate change and animal agriculture cause the most. These include the waste from farmed animals; and pollution from commercial fertilisers and pesticides used to produce food for these animals. Animal agriculture is also a significant driver of climate change. This element adds to the creation of oceanic dead zones. Dead zones in our oceans are expected to increase in size and number as climate change intensifies.
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Exacerbating Water Scarcity
USING OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE
Water scarcity is one of the world's most serious challenges; Today, over 2 billion people live in countries without adequate water supplies.
The proportion of water used to produce animal products is immense. It's estimated that meat and dairy are responsible for around 33 to 40% of all agriculture's water use. Given that animal products only provide 18 per cent of the world's calories, this is an inefficient use of a minimal resource.
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A 2022 report, "Scorched Earth: the impact of drought on 10 world cities", predicts that by 2025, two-thirds of the world's population may face water shortages. Animal agriculture, a top cause of the climate crisis, contributes to a fifth of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, to reduce or avoid the impending water shortages, we must address the key drivers – meat, dairy, fish and egg consumption.
Richer countries further exacerbate the global problem of water scarcity by importing 'virtual water' through meat or animal feed crops – essentially moving our water footprint overseas. Switching to a plant-based diet plays a key role in preserving crucial water reserves not just in our own country but across the globe.
The world's water resources are finite and are already pushed to their limit. This will only worsen as the population grows and the impacts of the climate crisis intensify. However, we already have a solution.
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Jasmine Clark, Senior Environment Campaigner at Viva! says that "reducing animal-based foods can save enough water to feed 1.8 billion additional people globally and significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions."
Water use in Slaughter
MAKING AN AWFUL FOOTPRINT
EVEN WORSE
It isn't just the process of raising farmed animals that uses large amounts of our precious water resources.
The process of slaughtering animals uses a vast amount of water. Meat and Livestock Australia reports that the main ways water is used in slaughterhouses are:
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slaughter,
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evisceration - including cleaning,
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Stockyard - mostly washdown,
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inedible and edible offal processing
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Casing and processing
Today, on average, 9400 litres of water is used for every tonne of carcase weight produced (which translates to around 650kg of meat). The use of water varies widely across facilities. In some instances in Australian slaughterhouses, up to 18,000 litres of water is used to produce the same amount.
