• There is as much water on earth today as there was thousands of years ago.
• Almost 97% of the world's water is salty, and 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers so 99% of the water on earth is undrinkable.
• The United States uses some 450 billion gallons of water every day.
• Every glass of water brought to your table at a restaurant requires another two glasses of water to wash and rinse the glass.
• We drink less than 1% of treated water. The rest of this treated water goes to watering lawns, washing machines, and down toilets and drains.
• “Nationally, an average of 14% of the water we buy is lost through leaks without our ever using it,” Christine Todd Whitman, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• A typical family of four spends about $820 on water supply fees and sewer charges per year.
• Federal legislation passed in 1992 that requires all U.S. plumbing manufacturers and importers to meet or beat the following standards for water efficiency:
  • Showerheads: 2.5 gallons per minute
  • Faucets: 2.2 gallons per minute
  • Toilets: 1.6 gallons per minute
• An outdated showerhead wastes 20 extra gallons a day or 7,300 gallons a year.
• It takes 150 gallons of water to produce the Sunday newspaper.
• The average person will consume 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime.
• It takes 39,000 gallons of water to manufacture a new car and four tires.
• If all of the water on the earth and in the atmosphere were poured into the United States, it would form a pool 90 miles deep.
• The U.S. gets 1/2 of its drinking water from groundwater.
• The Great Lakes contain about 20% of the earth's usable fresh water.

Every Drop Counts!

Did you know that the average American uses over 85 gallons of water each day? Learn how you can reduce the amount of water you and your family use each day by completing the Water Conservation Inventory Form with your family. You may also want to visit our Water Conservation section on our website.