Compare
Water comparisons are easy to get wrong, because superficially similar numbers frequently measure different things. Each comparison here pairs subjects that are actually comparable, on metrics that are actually comparable, and says where the comparison stops holding.
Two European countries at opposite ends of the water availability spectrum.
Two neighbouring economies with very different water resource positions and agricultural intensity.
Rainfall across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Brazil, Canada, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — the extremes of national water endowment.
Two large English water and sewerage companies, compared on leakage.
Reported leakage across the major UK water and sewerage companies.
India, Pakistan, Egypt and Uzbekistan — where agriculture takes almost everything.
Israel, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — security engineered rather than endowed.