Water Conservation- Facts & Tips You Can Use

Celebrating  Water Wednesday with these fun water facts that may surprise you.

Did you know…

Less than 2% of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water.

Of all the earth’s water, 97% is salt water found in oceans and seas.

Only 1% of the earth’s water is available for drinking water. 2% is frozen.

The human body is about 75% water.

A person can survive about a month without food, but only 5 to 7 days without water.

Every day in the United States, we drink about 110 million gallons of water.

Showering and bathing are the largest indoor uses (27%) of water domestically.

The average American uses 140-170 gallons of water per day.

If every household in America had a faucet that dripped once each second, 928 million gallons of water a day would leak away.

It takes 3.3 acre feet of water to grow enough food for an average family for a year.

A leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day.

One flush of the toilet uses 6 ½ gallons of water.

An average bath requires 37 gallons of water.

An average family of four uses 881 gallons of water per week  just by flushing the toilet.

You can refill an 8-oz glass of water approximately 15,000 times for the same cost as a six-pack of soda pop.

A dairy cow must drink four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk.

One inch of rainfall drops 7,000 gallons or nearly 30 tons of water on a 60′ by 180′ piece of land.

Approximately 1 million miles of pipelines and aqueducts carry water in the U.S. & Canada. That’s enough pipe to circle the earth 40 times.

The average 5-minute shower takes 15-25 gallons of water–around  40 gallons are used in 10 minutes.

Tips You May Not Know About…

Take short showers instead of baths.  A full bathtub requires about 36 gallons of water.

You use about 5 gallons of water if you leave the water running while brushing your teeth.

If you water your grass and trees more heavily, but less often, this saves water and builds stronger roots.

Each person needs to drink about 2 ½quarts (80 ounces) of water every day.

Water your lawn only when it needs it. If you step on  the grass and it springs back up when you move, it doesn’t  need water. If it stays flat, it does need water.

Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full.

When washing a car, use soap and water from a  bucket. Use a hose with a shut-off nozzle for rinsing.

Never put water down the drain when there may be  another use for it such as watering a plant or garden,  or cleaning.

Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues,  insects and other such waste in the trash rather than the toilet.

When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin  with soapy water. Quickly rinse under a slow-moving stream  from the faucet.

An automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of water while hand washing dishes can use up to 20 gallons.

Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting  the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water.

Water lawns during the early morning hours,  or evening when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest.  This reduces losses from evaporation.

Do not hose down your driveway or sidewalk.  Use a broom to clean leaves and other debris from these areas.  Using a hose to clean a driveway wastes hundreds of gallons  of water.

Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth  or shaving. Get in the habit of turning off the water when  it’s not being used.

Use of bowl of water to clean fruits & vegetables rather than running water over them. You can reuse this for your house plants.