Coffee is, in dollar terms, the world's leading agricultural product. Coffee requires a lot of water. Coffee's "water footprint" is roughly described as the amount of water needed to create those pots of java we all seem to love so much.

In a study done in the Netherlands, it was found that for drinking one standard cup of coffee meant about 140 litres of water was required. That's not only to brew a cup but to water the coffee beans. Total coffee consumption in the Netherlands alone requires a total of 2.6 billion cubic metres of water (or almost 700,000,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools). The Dutch people account for 2.4 per cent of the world coffee consumption.


For more information look at http://www.waterfootprint.org/WaterFootprintCalculator.htm