Skip to main content
  • About ELGA
    • About ELGA
    • Ultrapure water
    • Purification Technologies
    • Impurities In Water
    • Guides & White Papers
    • Approved Partners
    • Sustainability
    • Reducing Clinical Risks
    • Careers
    • Events
    • HPLC in Pharma
    • HPLC Water Purity
  • Blog
    • Analytical Chemistry
    • Clinical & Pharma
    • Cool Science
    • Environment and sustainability
    • Life in the lab
    • Purelab product design
    • Science of the future
    • Water Purity
    • Water in the lab
  • Contact
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Português
  • 日本語
  • 中文
Home ELGA LabWater
  • Products
  • Applications
  • Case Studies
  • Support
  • Products
    • PURELAB
    • CENTRA
    • MEDICA
    • BIOPURE
    • ELGA Full Product Range
  • Applications
  • Case Studies
    • Unlocking the secrets of the Antarctic with the aid of ultrapure water
    • Abbott Diagnostics chooses ELGA MEDICA systems in South Asia
    • Ca’Foscari University- A New Method for Investigating Environmental Tracers in Ice
    • Ca’Foscari University- Investigating Contaminants in Antarctic Ice
    • DASA: The biggest medical diagnostics company in Brazil
    • ELGA helps immuneserology labs maximize uptime
    • Importance of ultrapure Type 1+ water for the development of generic medicines
    • MEDICA® Pro selected for Siemens ADVIA® analyzers at City General Hospital
    • Optimale Wasserqualität für mikrobiologische Forschung und Lehre
    • PURELAB® flex: an ideal training system for today's research method
    • Sichere Reinstwasserversorgung für präzise Produkttests
    • Zentrale Reinstwasser-Aufbereitung für Analyser
  • Support
    • Support & Services
    • Laboratory Planning
    • Register a Product
    • Register Your Product (USA & Canada Only)
  • Products
    • PURELAB
      • PURELAB Chorus 1 Complete
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1
      • PURELAB Chorus 2+
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2
      • PURELAB® Chorus 3
      • PURELAB® flex 1 & 2
      • PURELAB® flex 3 & 4
    • CENTRA
      • CENTRA® 60/120
      • CENTRA® RDS
      • CENTRA® R200
    • MEDICA
      • MEDICA® 7/15
      • MEDICA® EDI 15/30
      • MEDICA® Pro EDI 60/120
      • MEDICA® Pro-LPS
      • MEDICA® Pro-R and Pro-RE
      • MEDICA® R200
    • BIOPURE
      • BIOPURE 7/15
      • BIOPURE 60/120
      • BIOPURE 200/300/600
    • ELGA Full Product Range
      • PURELAB® Classic
  • Applications
  • Case Studies
    • Unlocking the secrets of the Antarctic with the aid of ultrapure water
    • Abbott Diagnostics chooses ELGA MEDICA systems in South Asia
    • Ca’Foscari University- A New Method for Investigating Environmental Tracers in Ice
    • Ca’Foscari University- Investigating Contaminants in Antarctic Ice
    • DASA: The biggest medical diagnostics company in Brazil
    • ELGA helps immuneserology labs maximize uptime
    • Importance of ultrapure Type 1+ water for the development of generic medicines
    • MEDICA® Pro selected for Siemens ADVIA® analyzers at City General Hospital
    • Optimale Wasserqualität für mikrobiologische Forschung und Lehre
    • PURELAB® flex: an ideal training system for today's research method
    • Sichere Reinstwasserversorgung für präzise Produkttests
    • Zentrale Reinstwasser-Aufbereitung für Analyser
  • Support
    • Support & Services
    • Laboratory Planning
    • Register a Product
    • Register Your Product (USA & Canada Only)
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Português
  • 日本語
  • 中文
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Global Legal Compliance
  • Patents
  • Impressum

Let's talk about lab water

  • Categories
    • Analytical Chemistry
    • Clinical & Pharma
    • Cool Science
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Future Science
    • Life in The Lab
    • PURELAB Product Design
    • Science of the Future
    • Water In The Lab
    • Water Purity
  • Authors
    • ELGA Editorial Team
    • Natasha Zarach
    • Dr Paul Whitehead
    • Dr Alison Halliday
    • John Walker
Environment & Sustainability
Cool Science

Uncovering the Cost of Coffee Cravings at ELGA LabWater & Beyond

30 Jan 2020
- by ELGA Editorial Team

Drinking Coffee

Here at ELGA LabWater, we’re great fans of coffee; it’s what helps wake many of us up in the morning! But we’ve recently been surprised to learn that the 125 ml of water we put in our cups is only a fraction of what’s needed to grow the coffee beans and process them. Not only this but different types of water can affect the taste of the coffee we drink!  As water purification experts, we wanted to get to the bottom of water’s role in coffee production, and how we can prevent drying up our water resources (and coffee supplies) altogether.

What’s the true cost of ELGA LabWater’s coffee consumption?

The humble coffee bean, the small green seed found inside the coffee tree’s ‘cherry’ fruit, usually begins its journey on plantation farms in the developing world. It’s then picked, processed into roasted ground coffee, and shipped off to a number of international destinations. In fact, there are few places in the world where you won’t smell that rich aroma of coffee wafting through the air – and that includes our offices here at ELGA LabWater and Veolia Water Technologies! 

But despite our coffee cravings, those sips of cappuccino we rely on to get us through our scientific studies have recently developed a more bitter taste, as we’ve realized just how much water goes into producing it. Shockingly, the water footprint of one standard European cup of coffee (125 ml) is 140 liters of water – that’s about 14 buckets full! Altogether, the world population requires about 264,000 cubic miles of water per year to be able to drink coffee. To put it into perspective, this is equivalent to almost 47 times the volume of the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Baikal in Siberia! 

Why is so Much Water Used in Coffee Production?

Most of the water used in coffee production goes into growing the coffee plant. For example, water must be freely available to the plant during the period of rapid fruit expansion to ensure large, high-quality seed yields. Although some coffee growing regions can rely on rainfall as the main source of agricultural water, other more arid regions, such as Brazil, must use irrigation with water supplied from wells, reservoirs, or rivers. 

On top of this, once the coffee beans are picked, the processes of pulping, fermentation, and washing the beans via the wet coffee production process (as opposed to the more traditional dry production process) also requires a water source, such as river or groundwater. Although this is only a very small fraction (0.34%) of the water that goes into growing the coffee plant, the wet method still uses up precious surface water that can be scarce and is often extracted unsustainably.

How can Water Purification Technology Specialists Make a Difference?  

Despite the huge drain that coffee production can have on water resources, it’s not all doom and gloom. More advanced technologies and collaborative research are improving the way we use water in coffee production and other agricultural practices.

For example, Veolia Water Technologies is dedicated to performing international multidisciplinary research projects and developing innovative technologies to promote sustainable water use. For example, changing the irrigation method to drip micro-irrigation can help to conserve water while maintaining current crop yields. Using this controlled and localized water supply is more efficient and avoids water loss through deep soil percolation and surface runoff, while also bringing a variety of other benefits to coffee production.  

ELGA LabWater's Considering Swapping To Tea!

We also must consider swapping our coffee for a cup of tea! The water footprint of a standard cup of tea (250 ml) is only 34 liters, compared to 280 liters for an equivalent size cup of coffee. This means that tea requires about eight times less water than coffee – so simply changing what we drink at ELGA LabWater could be one way to help save our planet’s precious water resources!

 

Download our Going Green Report Now

Are lab water impurities compromising your research on environmental water contaminants?

Learn how fellow reserachers are contributing to the fight against water contaminants

              Download your copy of the full report here

 

Highlights

18 Jan 2021
Forensic Toxicological Analysis Of Cannabinoids In Blood
14 Dec 2020
Developing Batteries Powered by Human Urine 
23 Nov 2020
Improving the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Infections
16 Nov 2020
Does The Type Of Wine Fermentation Vessel Matter?
9 Nov 2020
Investigating ‘DNA Vaccines’ to Prevent Hepatitis B Infection
12 Oct 2020
Printing Personalised Medical Cannabis Products
5 Oct 2020
Can Microscopic Needles Help Treat Skin Cancer?
21 Sep 2020
Turning Mushrooms into Versatile Materials

Categories

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Clinical & Pharma
  • Cool Science
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Future Science
  • Life in The Lab
  • PURELAB Product Design
  • Science of the Future
  • Water In The Lab
  • Water Purity

Video

  • Enquiry
  • Get a Quote
  • Book a Demo
  • Find an Approved Partner

Enquiry

Please check this to confirm that you have read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Get a Quote

Please check this to confirm that you have read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Book a Demo

Please check this to confirm that you have read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Call us

Can't find what you are looking for?

Support Number
+44 (0)20 3567 7300
United Kingdom Sales
+44 (0)1628 879 704
United States of America Sales
+1 877-315-3542
France Sales
+33 1 40 83 65 00
China Sales
+86 400-616-8882

 

ELGA LabWater Head Quarters

Lane End Business Park
Lane End, High Wycombe
HP14 3BY
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 203 567 7300
F: +44 (0) 203 567 7205

The Ultrapure Water Specialists

  • Support & Services
  • Events

Case Studies

  • Abbott Diagnostics
  • DASA Medical Diagnostics
  • NeoDIN Medical Institute
  • North Staffordshire NHS Trust
  • Olsberg Vocational College

Resources

  • Learn About Ultrapure Water
  • Guides and White Papers
  • Purification Technologies
  • Applications
  • Impurities In Water

Blogs

  • Latest Blog
  • Water Purity - Different Types of Pure Water
  • What is Clinical Laboratory Reagent Water (CLSI)?
  • What is Total Organic Carbon (TOC)?
  • Language
    • Deutsch
    • English
    • Español
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Português
    • 日本語
    • 中文
  • Other Veolia Sites
    • Veolia
    • Veolia Fondation
    • Veolia Water Technologies

© VWS (UK) Ltd. trading as ELGA LabWater. 2021 - All rights reserved.
ELGA is the global laboratory water brand name of Veolia.

  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Global Legal Compliance
  • Patents
  • Impressum
Elga Veolia
TOP

© 2017 ELGA Veolia