HOW MUCH WATER DOES IT TAKE
TO...
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Brush your teeth? - 2
to 5 gallons
Wash the car? - 50 gallons
Use the dishwasher? - 8 to 15 gallons
Flush the toilet? - 1.5 to 4 gallons (each
flush)
Take a shower or bath? - 17 to 24
gallons
Run the washing machine? - 35 to 50
gallons (each load)
It's important that we all
work to save water. About
half the water we use
each year is used
outdoors - watering the
garden and lawn, filling
the swimming pool and washing the car.
Ways to reduce your water use outside
include using a shut-off faucet when
washing the car and landscaping with plants
that use less water.
Indoors, most of the water
a family uses is in the
bathroom. Saving water is
important. In the bathroom,
the easiest way to save
water is to shut off the faucet while you
brush your teeth or take shorter showers
and not using the toilet to flush trash. An
ultra-low-flush toilet uses just 1.5 gallons
per flush compared to 4 gallons per flush
for a traditional toilet.
In the kitchen make sure you
wash only full loads in the
dishwasher. And if you need
a new machine, ask your
parents to take a look at
some of the water-efficient models that
can reduce water usage to 6 gallons per
load. New washing machines also offer
significant water savings, using up to 40
percent less water per load than older
machines, and they can save energy too!
While 70 percent of the
Earth’s surface is
covered by water, only
2.5 percent is suitable
to drink for a
community of nearly
seven billion people. Water scarcity is an
issue affecting many countries, communities
and families all over the world.
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66 percent of a
human being is
water.
75 percent of
the human brain
is water.
75 percent of a
living tree is
water.
 Two-thirds of the
water used in an average home
is used in the bathroom.
 On the average, a
person uses two gallons of
water to brush his or her
teeth each day.
 A 10-minute shower
uses about 55 gallons of
water.
Trends in Water Use in the United States, 1950 to 2005
How has America's water use changed over the last 55 years? Are we using more or less water,
and are there trends for different kinds of water use? There is a lot of information in the bar
graph below. It shows the amount of water used for various categories of water use from 1950 to
2005.
This chart shows how much groundwater and surface water was used for the Nation from 1950
to 2005. Did you notice how the amounts of surface and groundwater withdrawals (in
percentages) have remained almost the same? About three-fourths of the water used in America
comes from surface water. Even though the population kept on growing, this chart shows that the
Nation's water supply does not change that much. We are using more water; however people are
conserving water by using some of the ideas listed on the cards in this center. Yeah! That means
that people are doing things to help the environment and our water supply.