Some of the spectacular images in the 2008 FAO Water Calendar have been used to produce the first of our animated screensavers for 2008. Later in the year we will release a second screensaver featuring more images from the 2008 calendar.

To preview screensaver number 2 click on the image on the right. To install screensaver 1 or 2 simply click on the link below, open the zip file, then run the FAOWATER_setup.exe installer and follow the brief instructions on screen.

Over the coming months FAO Water will be publishing a monthly desktop calendar for you to download and use. Simply select your screen size to open the calendar image in a new window then right click on the image and select 'Set as Desktop Item' form the menu that appears.

Check the FAO Water website each month for a differrent desktop calendar!

To produce food, water is consumed by the plants in the field through evaporation and transpiration. The amount of water needed varies with crops and depends from place to place, on local productivity and conditions of available water supply through rainfall or irrigation. Once the product is harvested and becomes available on the market, the water embedded in the product changes status from ‘real’ water to ‘virtual’ water. In this poster you can see how much water is "embedded" in each product and discover how much water is needed to produce it.