To discuss this and more during World Water Week is our studio guest Martin Weyand

from the German Energy and Water Industry Association. Weyand is an economist and manager for the Association’s Water and Sewage Department. DW-TV: There is money to be made with sewage. Let’s pull in Martin Weyand with the German Association of Energy and Water Industries. Why not just clean up all the world's sewage ? Would we then have enough clean water for everyone? Martin Weyand: The supply in the world depends just on the sources we have. We must look at how the resources are distributed all over the world. DW-TV: Would you say the key is distribution...or is the key conservation? Martin Weyand: The key issues are resources, and certainly you have to do something for conservation and maintenance and so on. DW-TV: Now you and I were talking earlier and you were saying that saving water actually creates costs. Now explain that to us...a lot of people would actually think they were saving money if they were saving water. Martin Weyand: Yes, if you look at the situation we have here in Germany, we have 123 liters per capita consumption every day, and this is a very low standard. So if you go on saving money further on, you have to flush the pipes and you have to do further things in the sewage sector... So a lot of costs go up, so if you save water it costs money. DW-TV: So it actually costs more money to maintain the pipes if you are not using water... Martin Weyand: ..and for hygiene and so on. DW-TV: Would you say German fail or pass the grade when it comes to conserving water? Martin Weyand: I guess we have to see that in other parts of the world it makes sense to save water. If you look at the US, there's an average per capita consumption of 600 liters a day. So it makes sense to save water and reach a standard like in Germany. DW-TV: Can you explain to us how someone can consume 600 liters of water a day? Martin Weyand: If you look at the standard of living...like a pool or other constructions using water t...

Channel: Deutsche Welle Video Length: 4m 20s Date Found: Wed, Dec 09 2009 9:25 PM Category: Business Date Produced: View Count: 0