How much water do you use in a day?

How much water do you use on an average day? Probably more than you think!

We use water for so many everyday uses, and so it can be easy to overlook exactly how much you’re using every time you bathe, wash your clothes or dishes, use the bathroom, fill a water bottle for drinking. But it all adds up.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the average American uses 82 gallons of water per day. This can fluctuate significantly depending on where you live, whether you live in a house or apartment, alone or with family members, and based on your lifestyle and hygiene choices.

Some studies have shown that the average water use per day could be as high as 101 gallons per day, and up to 300 gallons per day for the average family. You can determine your own water usage with an online water-use calculator.

So where is all that water going?

• How much water do your toilets use? Surprisingly, the highest water usage in many households is the toilet. This is because its average water-usage can run anywhere from 1.5 gallons (with modern low-flush toilets) to 7 gallons (for older models) per flush. For households with multiple people living under one roof, every flush adds up.
• How much water do you use while taking showers and baths? An average modern showerhead delivers about 2.5 gallons of water per minute, so each 10-minute shower would use roughly 25 gallons of water. For those who take baths, a half-filled bath tub is roughly 35 gallons on average.
• How much water do you use at the sink? Brushing teeth and shaving while the water is running from the sink is common, but it’s wasteful, with roughly 2-3 gallons going down the drain per minute.
• How much water do you use washing dishes? Modern energy- and water-efficient dishwashers may only use 4 gallons per load. But many older dishwashers use up to 15 gallons per load, and washing dishes by hand can use even more than that (an estimated 20 gallons per load on average).
• How much water do you use washing clothes? Once again, the age of your equipment will make a difference. Modern washing machines typically use between 25-30 gallons of water per load, while older, less-efficient models use about 40 gallons per cycle.
• How much water do you use for lawn care? For those lucky enough to own homes with front and backyards, it is occasionally necessary to water the lawn and plants. For a 10-by-10-foot patch of grass, an estimated 60 gallons of water are necessary to properly irrigate each time.

And these make up most of the average individual American household’s water usage, which is – pardon the pun – just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of water we need to keep our farms, industries, workplaces, transportation and other infrastructure going.

Be mindful of how much water you’re using! It’s important to be careful not to waste water, because it is a finite resource, and one that underpins our entire society. When you try to imagine life without any of the above uses of water, you’ll realize how precious clean water is.

In sub-Saharan Africa, people know all about that. More than 300 million people in that part of the world do not have access to clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing or sanitation. There is plentiful water in Africa, but much of it is located in either untreated water sources like rivers, lakes and ponds, or in open watering holes, unprotected from bacteria and diseases.

The average African uses less than half the amount of water as the average American, but even this lesser quantity is hard to come by – requiring people to either make do with their nearby, potentially dangerous water sources, or to make long, back-breaking journeys to find cleaner water.

Help Embrace Relief deliver clean water to people who need it

That’s where the Embrace Relief Foundation comes in.

Through our Clean Water Initiative, we’re working to make clean water accessible to all. So far, we have funded the construction of 450 new water wells, and the reconstruction of 50 pre-existing water wells, in the African nations of Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria. These wells are providing water to more than 500,000 people for at least the next five years.

Donating to Embrace Relief’s Clean Water Fund and our “Fountains of Hope” project is the single-best way to ensure that thousands of people will get the water they need.

But there are more ways for you to help Embrace Relief fight the clean water crisis. On Saturday, June 25, we will be hosting our inaugural H2Ow Far Can You Walk: 5K Walkathon at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. This family-friendly event is open to people of all ages and abilities, and will help raise awareness and money for building and rebuilding water wells in Africa.

Every single dollar donated during our 5K Walkathon will provide more than 2,000 gallons of clean, drinkable water for those in need. For more information, and to register, click here. We look forward to having some fun in the sun with you as we help improve hundreds of thousands of lives.