Canada has 20% of the planet’s fresh water. However, less than half of this water -- about 7% of the global supply -- is "renewable".

Most of it is fossil water retained in lakes, underground aquifers, and glaciers. For Canada's 30 million people -- about 0.5% of the world's population -- this is still a generous endowment. But, more than half of this water drains northward into the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay. As a result, it is unavailable to the 85% of the Canadian population who live along the country's southern border. That means the remaining supply, while still abundant, is heavily used and often overly stressed.

(source: Government of Canada)

The Ottawa-based Polaris Institute, a nonprofit environmental organization, warns that many plastic bottles end up in landfills, or as litter in forests, lakes and oceans.

The institute estimates that only 14% plastic water bottles get recycled in Ontario.

Estimates on how many bottles actually get recycled vary, but the carbon footprint of the industry is inarguably huge, especially once you factor in how much water it takes to make water, which Ertug Ercin at the Water Footprint Network has predicted could be up to six or seven times that in the bottle.

(source: National Post)

Canada's fresh water can be found in the form of rivers, lakes, groundwater, ice, and snow.

(source: Government of Canada)

Canadians use an average of 329 litres of water a day, second only to the United States and twice as much as the European average.

(source: National Post)