By: Emmanuel Mayani
Zahra wakes before sunrise. In the dim morning light, she wraps a scarf around her head, slides into her sandals, and hoists a yellow plastic jerry can onto her hip. Zahra is fifteen. Since she was nine, Zahra has walked this 8-kilometer (5-mile) route through the muddy, hilly landscape of Oromia, Ethiopia. It has become an ordinary part of her life. She joins other girls and women, sometimes in silence, sometimes exchanging quiet conversation. When it rains, the hills turn slippery. Still, Zahra walks, carrying a heavy container of water weighing roughly 40 pounds. School has already begun when she returns—her container filled, shoulders aching. Some days, she misses class entirely. Zahra’s village does what it can. Her family collects rainwater in barrels. Neighbors share. Teachers adjust school schedules. There’s no self-pity, only persistence and care. Theirs is a story of survival, yes—but also of resilience.
This struggle echoes across the world in different forms. In the U.S., over two million people still live without running water or basic plumbing, often depending on bottled water or hauling it from faraway sources. Globally, one in three people—about 2.5 billion—lack reliable access to clean water, a fundamental human right.
Your Invisible Water Footprint
Climate change is to blame, as is broken infrastructure. But there’s another culprit: virtual water, the water embedded in the products we consume. It’s water that never appears in taps but silently drains from rivers, lakes, and aquifers to grow crops, process goods, and generate electricity. Consider this:
(Note: For context, one bucket holds about 5 gallons, or roughly 19 liters, of water.)
- Drinks (Coffee – 7 buckets): Your morning cup of coffee uses the same amount of water as Zahra’s family would need to wash hands and dishes for several weeks. Without it, Zahra’s family risks more than just unclean dishes. Foodborne and hygiene-related diseases like diarrhea and cholera can take hold. For children, that means dehydration, missed school, malnutrition, and, in some cases, death.
- Electricity (39 gallons/day/person — 8 buckets): An average person’s daily electricity use in the U.S. requires the same amount of water as Zahra’s family would need to hand wash their clothes and linens for an entire week. Without that water, they wear soiled garments in the heat and dust, raising the risk of skin infections, irritation, and discomfort.
- Clothes (Cotton T-shirt — 140 buckets): That cotton T-shirt in your drawer requires the same amount of water as Zahra’s family would need to cook their daily meals for months or to irrigate their small vegetable garden through a growing season. Without that water, seeds don’t sprout, meals aren’t made, and children fall asleep with nothing in their stomachs.
These comparisons don’t blame—they clarify. While Zahra walks for water, much of the world consumes it invisibly. The problem isn’t personal indulgence; it’s systemic design, and the effects are widespread.
Rivers and Lakes Are Running Dry
The Nile River in Africa, the Colorado River in the United States, the Yangtze River in China, and the Danube River in Europe—all once mighty and full—are shrinking as their water is quietly diverted to sustain agriculture, industry, and everyday consumption.
The Aral Sea in Central Asia offers a stark warning. Once one of the world’s largest lakes, it was four times the size of Lake Michigan in 1960. Today, it’s shrunk to just a third the size of Lake Michigan—a loss of over 90 percent of its volume. Its rivers were diverted to grow cotton, a water-intensive crop exported worldwide. Consumers from Central Asia—and around the world—unknowingly played a role in the lake’s collapse. What was once a vibrant, life-sustaining body of water is now a dry, desolate landscape, its shoreline littered with rusting ships and dust storms in place of waves.
If unsustainable water use continues, rivers like the Nile, Colorado, the Yangtze, and the Danube could face severe depletion, endangering ecosystems and communities that depend on them, much like the Aral Sea. For people like Zahra, these rivers are a lifeline, providing water for drinking, farming, and daily needs. As they dry up, families in rural villages and small towns will struggle to access enough water to survive.
Join the Resurrection to Help Reverse the Damage
The good news is that efforts are underway to improve water conservation. In Zahra’s village, families build rain catchments and advocate for safer, closer water sources. Globally, governments are testing water footprint labeling, drip irrigation systems, and virtual water trade policies.
You can be part of this shift. As we reflect on the water we use—often without realizing it—let’s choose to act:
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room, and unplug devices when they’re not in use. By cutting 10% of your daily electricity use—a slight habit shift—you could save over 1,500 gallons of water in a year. That’s enough for Zahra’s family and others like hers to wash their clothes and linens for a year.
- Cutting back on new clothing purchases by just a third this year—like skipping a few new cotton T-shirts—can save around 3,000 gallons of water—enough to irrigate Zahra’s family vegetable garden for nearly three growing seasons. That same amount could also cover months of cooking water. For families like hers, that’s the difference between an empty plate and a steady food source.
- If you skip a cup of coffee once a week, you could save nearly 2,000 gallons of water over a year. That’s about what Zahra’s family and five others in her village in Ethiopia would need to wash their hands and dishes for an entire year. Coffee beans from Ethiopia travel thousands of miles to reach cafés and homes in Chicago and across the U.S. Yet families like Zahra’s—who help grow them—often lack enough clean water for basic needs.
None of these individual efforts will solve the global water crisis—governments and corporations must take the lead. But the choices we make every day can help ease the pressure. After all, water is more than a resource. It’s a shared right, a thread woven through our health, homes, and futures. That thread must not break.
Reader Question:
What small action will you take, starting today and continuing forward, to reduce your hidden water footprint and help ease the burden for families who still lack access to clean water?