★Along with air, we all know that water is the most precious commodity on our planet, because without water there would be no life. However, we are unaware that most of the water on our planet is not drinkable, and that the water we can use for our existence is decreasing day by day, because it is diminishing in the sources we exploit. What is happening, in short, is a real ‘water emergency’ that requires a new awareness from everyone.

★With clear, rigorous, and also ironic language that includes quotations from films, novels and comic strips, "SOS Water" tells all this: what water is, its impact on history and society, the reasons that are causing this emergency and what is being done to solve it.

★A book that explains why water plays a central role in all sectors of society and why it is essential to stop its intensive exploitation.

Nothing is more familiar to us than water.

In fact, most of the surface of our planet is covered in water, and our bodies, like those of all living things, are also largely made of water. Water is so present in every moment of our daily lives that we take it for granted. Yet today the world is experiencing a real water emergency that, in many states, has become a reality. In order to solve, or at least live with this problem, it is necessary to know the causes of it - population growth, pollution, intensive agriculture and livestock farming, and global warming - as well as the solutions that can already be adopted today.


After an introductory chapter, the following ones describe how water was formed in the Universe and how it arrived on our planet; how much water on Earth can be used and why, what its chemical and physical characteristics are, how its use has modified and shaped human societies from the earliest times to the present day; how water consumption has changed over the centuries, how it is the cause of armed conflicts around the world and how we are polluting the water available to us.

One chapter is dedicated to global warming who is amplifying water problems, and another to virtual water, i.e. the water we “eat”, that is, the water we use daily in the industrial processes by which we produce the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the tools (such as smartphones and computers) we use.

The book closes with a chapter dedicated to the most innovative solutions being adopted to save water, recounted by architect Stefano Chiocchini, Compasso d’oro 2022 prize for Design, inventor of a revolutionary greenhouse to save water and energy in agriculture.