- the production of 1 kg wheat costs 1,300 L water
- the production of 1 kg eggs costs 3,300 L water
- the production of 1 kg broken rice costs 3,400 L water
- the production of 1 kg beef costs 15,500 L water
- Jeans (1000g) contain 10,850 liters of embedded virtual water
- A cotton shirt (medium sized, 500 gram) contains 4,100 liters of water
- A disposable diaper (75g) contains 810 liters of water
- A bed sheet (900g) contains 9,750 liters of water
- 1.1 tonne passenger car has about 400,000 liters of water embedded in it
Virtual water (also known as embedded water, embodied water, or hidden water) refers, in the context of trade, to the water used in the production of a good or service. For instance, it takes 1,300 cubic meters of water on average to produce one metric tonne of wheat. The precise volume can be more or less depending on climatic conditions and agricultural practice. Hoekstra and Chapagain have defined the virtual-water content of a product (a commodity, good or service) as "the volume of freshwater used to produce the product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced". It refers to the sum of the water use in the various steps of the production chain.
Source: Wikipedia "Virtual water"