Every Drop Counts

Summer is just around the corner, so here are some tips to remember about water use indoor and outdoor.

Water covers approximately 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, but less than 1 percent of that is available for human use. The world must share this small amount for agricultural, domestic, commercial, industrial, and environmental needs. Across the globe, water consumption has tripled in the last 50 years. Managing the supply and availability of water is one of the most critical natural resource issues facing the United States and the world.

Homes use more than half of publicly supplied water in the United States, which is significantly more than is used by either business or industry. A family of four can use approximately 400 gallons of water every day. Roughly 70% of this is indoor use and 30% outdoors. Those amounts used can increase depending on location; for example, the arid West has some of the highest per capita residential water use because of landscape irrigation.

With water use in the United States increasing every year, many regions are starting to feel the pressure. In the last five years, nearly every region of the country has experienced water shortages. In fact, a government report found that water managers in 40 of 50 states expect water shortages in some portion of their states under average conditions in the next 10 years.

Further Resources:

Water Sense – WaterSense, a partnership program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services.