Is Water The Next Oil?

MarketWatch (h/t Ritholtz):

You probably “think individuals consume the most water,” says Fortune. Not so. Agriculture accounts for 71%, and industry another 16% for a total 86% of all water use in the world. It even takes 71 gallons to produce a single cup of coffee, forcing Starbucks to “cut its in-store water usage by 25% by 2015 with, for example, espresso machines that dispense less water.”

Here’s Fortune’s summary of the global market for all water users: Total worldwide revenues of $508 billion in 2010 … the bottled water market generated $58 billion of that total and growing fast … industry needs $28 billion for water equipment and services to all kinds of businesses … another $10 billion covers agricultural irrigation … another $15 billion in retail products like filters and various heating and cooling systems … $170 billion is used for waste water, sewage systems, waste-water treatment and water recycling systems … and $226 billion for water utilities, treatment plants and distribution systems.

The part about bottled water blows me away.  Most of that water is tap water marked up 1000 times and trucked to your local store.  10% of all the money in the world spent on water is spent on water marked up that much?  Doesn't seem like a market for growth in the third world.  But, hey, I've been wrong before about how stupid people are.  Don't get me wrong, water will be valuable in the future, but anything that people waste a lot of money on to keep their grass green can be conserved pretty easily.