Water Use Statistics

United States Water Use
The water use statistics below are from Handbook of Water Use and Conservation (Amy Vickers, 2001).

Statistics
  • Approximately 346,800 million gallons per day (mgd) of freshwater and 61,200 mgd of saltwater were withdrawn in 2000 for use by the nation's homes, farms and industries.
  • According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the highest-consuming states in 2000 were:
    • California - 51,200 mgd
    • Texas - 29,600 mgd
    • Florida - 20,100 mgd
  • According to the USGS, the lowest-consuming states that year were:
    • Alaska - 305 mgd
    • Rhode Island - 429
    • Vermont - 447 (USGS)
  • Americans drink more than 1 billion glasses of tap water per day.
  • On average, 50-70% of home water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens.
Daily indoor per capita water use in the typical single family home is 69.3 gallons. Here is how it breaks down:
Use Gallons Per Capita
 Percentage of Total Daily Use
Toilets
 18.5 26.7%
Clothes washers
 15.0 21.7%
Showers 11.6 16.8%
Faucets 10.9
 15.7%
Leaks
 9.5 13.7
Other domestic uses
 1.6 2.2%
Baths
 1.2 1.7%
Dishwashers
 1.0 1.4%
(Table source: Residential End Uses of Water, American Water Works Association Research Foundation, 1999)

By installing more efficient water fixtures and regularly checking for leaks, households can reduce daily per capita water use by about 35% to about 45.2 gallons per day. Here's how it breaks down for households using conservation measures:
Use Gallons per Capita
 Percentage of Total Daily Use
Faucets 10.8
 23.9%
Clothes washers
 10.0 22.1%
Showers 8.8 19.5%
Toilets 8.2 18.0%
Leaks 4.0 8.8%
Other domestic uses
 1.6 3.4%
Baths 1.2 2.7%
Dishwashers 0.7 1.5%
(Table source: Handbook of Water Use and Conservation, Amy Vickers, 2001)