U.S.A. Household Water Use Continues to Decline

A neighborhood in Weld County, Colorado, one of the few states where household water use is increasing. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue

Federal report tracks conservation pattern that began two decades ago.

Continuing a trend that began in the early 1990s with tighter federal plumbing standards, U.S. household water use dropped again in 2015. When assessing national figures, there are two main ways to gauge water use at home: the amount used per person and total water use, which incorporates changes in population. By both measures, water use is declining, according to the latest report from the U.S. Geological Survey, the agency that gathers national data every five years.

For people served by public and private utilities, water use for cooking, drinking, showering, lawn watering, car washing, and other household tasks dropped to an average of 83 gallons per person per day in 2015, down seven percent compared to 2010. Household use was 105 gallons per person per day in 1990. Total household use declined as well, even as the number of people supplied by utilities increased by 14 million.

Household water use in the country dropped by […]

Full article: U.S. Household Water Use Continues to Decline

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