24-hour water refers to water that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Although water is so freely available in developed countries, nations like India have to limit allocation and availability due to poor management and infrastructure. The book presents 24-hour water as something of double-edged sword: A lack of 24-hour water exacerbates poverty and illness, but overly cheap 24-hour water has changed attitudes in developed nations such as these populations largely take it for granted, leading to waste.

The Big Dry was a drought event in Australia. Fishman discusses the drought to demonstrate that insufficient water is an issue that plagues even developed nations like Australia, and to examine how such scarcity affects both the population and the economy.

Fishman uses the term water illiteracy to describe the general population’s ignorance about water, including the pervasive use of water in industry and the hidden expenses that go into ensuring access to clean water. Fishman argues that widespread water illiteracy has enabled people to take the resource for granted.