Ask A Scientist General Science Archive

name         Kendall D.
status       student
age          16

Question -   What is the per capita water consumption in the United 
States of America (I want included agriculture and industrial)?
-----------------
Dear Kendall,

There is a web site of water consumption data in the US from the year 1994
that states "In an industrial society such as the United States, personal
water consumption is between 200 and 300 liters per day (Fetter, 1994).
when the industrial and energy production usage is added in to the equation,
fresh water usage exceeds 5,000 liters per day on a per capita basis
(Fetter, 1994)."

The website is:
http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/eslick7/webpage.html

I also found a USGS site that lists ground water withdrawals in the year
2000 on a per state basis at:

http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/htdocs/table04.html

I couldn't locate any more recent data.  I hope this is helpful!

Todd Clark, Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
====================================================
The following website: http://www.epa.gov/OW/you/chap1.html
by the U.S.E.P.A. gives estimates of water consumption in the U.S. by end
use (domestic, agriculture, industrial) and a wealth of other info on water
in the U.S. One statistic that I came across that may or may not be on the
web site is: The Great Lakes water system -- Superior, Michigan, Huron,
etc. -- accounts for 20% of the global surface fresh water. That is an
amazing statistic when you realize that surface freshwater is a minuscule
percentage of the total water on earth, which is predominantly salt water
and the polar ice caps.

Vince Calder
=====================================================
Dear Kendall,

Go to the web site of the American Waterworks Association.  They have every
breakdown of usage imaginable, from showers and baths to washing machines.
The address is http://www.awwa.org

Have fun!
Martha Croll
=====================================================
Kendall D.,

I can offer you the following information regarding consumptive water use 
in the United States of America.  This data comes from the World Bank, 2000.

Industrial use---291.0 billion cubic meters of water.
Domestic use----35.8 billion cubic meters of water.
Agricultural use-120.9 billion cubic meters of water.

Please note that one cubic meter of water is equivalent to 264.17 gallons 
U.S. If one has an accurate current population number for the U.S., one 
can calculate the per capita data rather easily.  I hope that this helps.

Sincerely,

Bob Trach
=====================================================