
Average water use per person*day by country - derwiki
http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=757
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ars
Most water is used for farming (grain in particular), and it would be good if
it was possible to adjust the numbers based on relative import/export of food.

Countries without enough water import water in the form of grain, and vis
versa for those blessed with plenty.

So don't look at this graph and automatically think "The US should reduce
water use". First you have to look at how much grain the US exports.

Second you have to look at how the water is used. For example household water
usage with a sewer system is a null usage. Reducing that does almost nothing -
all the water used gets recycled downstream by the next city downriver.

On the other hand septic systems waste water. So a county that (for household
use) uses 1/4 of the water, but only uses it once is worse than a country that
recycles that water 5 times on its way to the ocean. Yet they look much better
on a per capita basis.

So although this graph is very very interesting it doesn't give you actionable
information.

~~~
nostromo
Check this out, from the EPA:
[http://i.imgur.com/3S4LnzS.png](http://i.imgur.com/3S4LnzS.png)

Can that be true? Why does generating electricity use more water than farming?

[http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/water_use_today.html](http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/water_use_today.html)

> Running an average refrigerator all day uses about as much water as a ten-
> minute shower

[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-saving-
energy-...](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-saving-energy-means-
conserving-water/)

~~~
catinsocks
You need the water for cooling in a power plant, this is why many are built
near rivers or lakes, and if they aren't they will have large manmade ponds or
lakes from which to gather and dump water.

[http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-
Generat...](http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-
Generation/Cooling-Power-Plants/)

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spurgu
I would be very interested in seeing a breakdown of the amounts. You only
drink maybe 1-2 liters per day. Showers and toilet flushes add to a fair
amount but the majority has to be water for the plants and animals you eat.

~~~
bbosh
I'm surprised the figures for the United States vs United Kingdom are are so
far apart (550 vs 150). These leads me to think much of the usage is water
lost during transmission, or used in farming/industry rather than in the home.

~~~
derwiki
Farming sounds very plausible:

[http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/californias-drought-
whos-...](http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/californias-drought-whos-really-
using-all-the-water/)

and something I never thought about: ".. humans drink less than one gallon of
water per day, but a cow can drink up to 23 gallons of water a day."

~~~
bluedino
Think about the sheer acreage in the USA compared to England and how much of
the land is used for crops or livestock.

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derwiki
This is also neat:

[http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshw...](http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/change-
the-course/water-footprint-calculator/)

It shows how your household compares to national averages in terms of water
use, diet, energy, and shopping. I was a little surprised to read that the
average person does 3 loads of laundry a week. I'm closer to every 3 weeks --
but I guess I have a pretty small household.

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gatehouse
Also consider that water is renewable. If you use less than the amount that
gets replenished, you're fine. If you use more it will just get worse and
worse.

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aestra
Missing Canada. :(

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0x0
Shouldn't the title then be "average water use per person/day by country"?

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ck2
I wonder what percentage of that is from fracking.

~~~
ars
A more important question is what percentage is used by recycling.

