Energy for water: coupled resources from the other viewpoint

In the study of interdependence of resource use, water and energy are readily recognized as closely coupled, particularly from the standpoint of water being required for acquisition and use of energy. The other side of the issue, the energy requirements of water provision, also has important aspects but has been much less studied. This is a brief description of a study of such energy requirements for the three most important energy–consuming facets of supplying water in the United States: provision of water for urban regions; sewage treatment, especially in urban areas; and irrigation. The study compares several localities for each of these three, present estimates of the energy used in the mid–1970s and projections of the energy demands for the year 2000.