“Statistically Speaking” – Water Use

“Statistically Speaking”

WATER USE

Statistically Speaking…. we use HUGE AMOUNTS OF WATER!  Billions per day of anything is a bunch!  Water use for certain items is a great thing (drinking, washing hands, cooking, sterilizing, etc.).  Water use for certain items can be wasteful.  Below are STATISTICS on how we use water, produce water, distribute water, and a handful of other related items.

  • Colorado Senate Bill 14-103: Signed into law August 2014, takes effect 9/1/16, essentially requires all plumbing fixtures sold in the State of Colorado to comply with the EPA’s WaterSense Program.  A sample of the requirements:
    • All Plumbing fixtures shall have the EPA WaterSense label
    • Urinals max flow: 0.5 gallons/flush
    • Water Closets max flow: 1.28 gallons/flush
  • Total U.S. Water Use 2010: 355 billion gallons/day(3)
  • Hospitals: 67.7 gallons/sq.ft./year(1)
  • Patient Beds: 144,800 gallons/patient bed/year(1)
  • Average American family of four: 400 gallons/day(2)
  • Average American family of four indoor use: 300 gallons/day(2)
  • Bottled Water U.S. 2014: 10.9 billion gallons/year(4)
  • Bottled Water U.S. 2015: 11.7 billion gallons/year(4)
  • Average weight of empty 16.9-ounce plastic water bottle 2000 vs. 2014: declined by 51%(4)
  • Residential Water Leaks: 5 to 10 percent of American Homes leak 90 gallons/day(2)
  • Mobile Phones: More people in the world have a mobile phone than a toilet(5)
  • American Diet (water it takes to produce the average): 1,000 gallons/day/person(6)
  • 2010 U.S. Irrigation: 115 billion gallons/day(3)
  • Water to produce a cup of coffee: 55 gallons(6)
  • Water to produce one (1) gallon of gas: 13 gallons(6)
  • Water to grow and process one (1) pound of cotton: 100 gallons(6)
  • The only substance found on earth naturally in three forms (Solid, liquid and gas): Water(2)
  • The most common substance found on earth: Water(2)
  • National average cost for water: 25 cents/person/day(2)
  • Number of community public water systems in the United States: 54,000(2)
  • Quantity of water processed daily the community public water systems: 38 billion gallons(2)
  • Miles of pipeline and aqueducts in the United States and Canada: 1,000,000(2)
  • First municipal water filtration works: Paisley, Scotland in 1832(2)
  • An inch of rain on one acre of ground: 27,154 gallons, which weighs 113 tons(2)
  • Water to process a quarter pound of hamburger: 1 gallon(2)
  • Water to produce one ton of steel: 62,600 gallons(2)
  • Water to manufacture one new car, including new tires: 39,090 gallons(2)
  • Water consumed by a dairy cow to produce one gallon of milk: 4 gallons(2)
  • Water used during the growing/production of a chicken: 400 gallons(2)
  • Water used during the growing/production of a single orange: 13.8 gallons(2)
  • Water used during the growing/production of a watermelon: 100 gallons(2)

Many of the below sources did not differentiate between potable and non-potable water use for the statistics above.  Please apply appropriate judgment when evaluating the above.

SOURCES

  1. S. Energy Information Administration
  2. S. Environmental Protection Agency
  3. S. Geological Survey
  4. International Bottled Water Association
  5. Water.org
  6. National Geographic

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