The world water supply is finite. Yes, water will not be here forever if we carry on with our wasteful habits.
Just 1% of the water in the world is freshwater that’s safe and available for us to drink. So every drop of water wasted is a drop less in our freshwater bodies.
You probably don’t pay attention to how much water goes to waste in your home. If current water wasting facts are anything to go with, the world water supply is dwindling fast.
It’s about time we understood just how much danger we are putting the planet in as we continue to wastewater.
The following are some important water wastage statistics that you may not know.
Water Wasting Facts
Here are 20 water waste facts that will get you thinking about what you can do to conserve water:
Water consumption facts
1. Americans drink about 110 million gallons of water every day.
2. Americans consume 3.9 trillion gallons of water per month. The average American household consumes about 127,400 gallons of water annually.
3. Public water suppliers process 38 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.
4. 5 gallons of water are lost if you leave the water running while brushing your teeth.
Around the home
5. We use 27% of a household’s water for showering and bathing. This makes them the two largest indoor uses of water domestically.
6. On average, 10 gallons of water is lost to leaks per day. A dripping faucet in every American household would cause a loss of 928 million gallons of water a day. Fix those leaks people.
7. Every time you flush your toilet, you use 3 ½ gallons of water. Cumulatively, 6.8 billion gallons of water are flushed down toilets in America every day.
8. You use 37 gallons of water for an average shower. Using a low-flow showerhead can save 15 gallons of water during a 10-minute shower.
9. An automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of water while20 gallons of water are needed to hand wash dishes. A water-efficient dishwasher will use as little as 4 gallons per wash cycle.
10. Most front-loading washing machines are energy- and water-efficient, and thus use a little over 20 gallons a load. Most top-loading machines, on the other hand, use 40 gallons per load.
11. Every time you wash your car you use about 150 gallons of water. So the more you use your car the more you’ll have to wash it and the more water will be used.
Yards and pools
12. Nearly 60% of a person’s household water is used in lawn and garden maintenance.
13. A garden hose or sprinkler can use almost as much water in an hour as an average family of four uses in one day.
14. The average pool takes 22,000 gallons of water to fill. Hundreds of gallons of water are lost due to evaporation per month so ensure you keep your pool covered when not in use.
Food production
15. 10 percent of the world’s food is produced by overpumping groundwater. It takes 3.3-acre feet of water to grow enough food for an average family for a year.
16. When it comes to food production, a tomato uses about thirteen gallons of water, eight ounces of broccoli requires 19.5 gallons and an almond requires a gallon per nut to produce.
17. One serving of poultry requires about 90 gallons of water to produce.
18. Your favorite lift-me-up drink, coffee, takes 55 gallons of water for every cup. A lot of this water is used to grow the coffee beans.
Transportation
19. A gallon of gasoline takes nearly 13 gallons of water to produce. Try to use your car less and save more water.
20. If you take a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco, more than 9,000 gallons of water will be required to make a round trip.
More Water Wasting Facts & Statistics
Did these water-wasting statistics make your stomach churn? Here are more grim water waste statistics:
How much water does the average American use per day?
According to water usage facts, the average American uses 140-170 gallons of water per day.
How much water is wasted in a day?
An average person will unknowingly waste up to 30 gallons of water every day.
How much water is wasted every year in the world?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, about 1.7 trillion gallons of water are wasted every year.
Conclusion
These water wasting facts are a real indication of the water hole we’re digging ourselves into. There’s a simple solution to this problem – if we each try to change our water consumption habits and conserve water, we might be able to do something about this global crisis.
So don’t waste any more water.
