Average Household Water Usage in US

Remember when water was hard to bring into a house from a well or nearby river for the usual necessities and chores? No, you probably cannot because we have left them generations ago and only read about those hard-working days in books or see them in Netflix historical dramas. Now, water is very much comfortable getting and we can have it according to our preference in a second, not barred by the limit in our home. That can make you wonder how much water an average American use. Let’s find out then.

Americans’ water usage is through the roof, and it is proved through the statistics done by the United States Geological Surveys (USGS). Its water science section stated that “Estimates vary, but each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day [in liters, that is between 302 and 378 liters].”

Another insight can be found from the site of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. They said America usually uses 300 gallons of water per day at home, where seventy percent of that water is used only indoors. And if the study narrows down into the consumption of water by a person, then the agency has found that an average American person uses 88 gallons of water every day, which means 333 liters of water per day.

Those data were taken in 2015, whereas in 2019, the data on the very same site shows that an average person in America uses 101.5 gallons per day.

If we declutter the usage, we can draw a picture of how this humongous amount of water is generally used daily.

A tub/bathtub is filled with about 36 gallons of water.

A toilet flushes required 3 gallons of water. If 8 to 10 flush is assumed for a day, then a toilet flush uses 18 to 24 gallons of water per day.

The average time of taking a shower is 10 minutes, and if a shower faucet delivers 2 gallons of water per minute, then a total of 20 gallons of water is used in a shower.

Dirty clothes? Wash in a conventional washing machine that uses 15 gallons a load.

Depending on the efficiency of your dishwasher, the amount of water usage is 4 to 10 gallons.

For hygiene purposes, one person uses 2.5 gallons of water. And the ever recommending daily 8 glasses of water intake includes 1 gallon of water. The amount total comes to 101.5 gallons per day. There can be other miscellaneous uses of water in every household.

For example, someone might forgetfully keep the tap on, or there could be leaking appliances, pipes, dripping on faucets. The amount varies this way.

Besides Oxygen, water is another significant part of our life. From brushing our teeth to clean ourselves, we need water for almost everything, from making a mandatory relaxing coffee cup to our favorite pasta bowl. We use it as science, and technology is creating our lifestyle for such convenient consumption.

But do we ever think about how much we actually need or how much do we use daily?

Some of the United States states are using most water as they have experienced the most population growth. If this information raises a question in your mind that if will we ever run out of water? The answer is complicated than a clear ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Our world is covered by seventy-five percent of water, and the amount of drinkable water among it is only 2.5 percent. And we have to remember that water is not only used for daily chores or physical activity but agricultural and industrial purposes, and other livestock does use it too. So, as a whole, we might run out of clean drinking water across the globe, not only in the United States.

The population growth and climate change are not helping in this regard, but little changes can bring a huge impact. Scientist advised us going vegetarian two or three days a week which fill our body demand of water from the plants. Lessening our carbon footprint has become a mandatory step not only for water savings but for environmental safety. So, learning about climate change is essential for both present and future generations. And last but not least, never ignore the power of filtration.

The study says the Americans do use twice as much water as they think they need or do. They underestimate their usage of daily water in large magnitude. They have a slight knowledge of how much water they actually need for everyday use and how much water is used to produce the food they consume daily.

An internet survey of 1020 people by Shahzeen Attari, an assistant professor in the Department of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, shows that twenty-eight percent of water used in an average house goes for only toilet flushing. The survey asked the survey participants how to diminish the water consumption, and forty-three percent answered that taking a fewer and shorter shower can less water use. 17 Percent said they would turn off the tap while doing other activities, including brushing their teeth. Attari responded to these answers saying that such an act can save 8 to 10 percent of one person’s daily water consumption.

Water is the most necessary essential but neglected resource we ever use in our daily life. In general, we need to pay more attention to our daily water consumption.

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