For all of the gripes about the volume of water used in shale gas fracing, what’s often overlooked is just how much water it takes to make, say, a Coke.

In 2010, natural gas drilling consumed 79 million gallons of water per day (GPD) from the Susquehanna River Basin, which delivers about half of the fresh water that flows to the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2009, after Coca-Cola cut its annual water use by an impressive 2.9%, it still drank up 224 million GPD. For the year, Coca Cola turned 81.6 ...