Water Use - Direct
Activity | Liters Used | Activity | Liters Used |
Brushing teeth | 7 / min | Leaking faucet | 10/day |
Washing hands | 7 / min | Watering lawn | 35/min |
Shaving | 7 / min | Washing machine | 210 |
Showering | 17.5 / min | House cleaning | 25 |
Tub bathing | 105 | Automatic dishwasher | 53 |
Flushing toilet | 20 | Washing dishes | 30 |
Getting a drink | 1 | Cooking a meal | 22 |
Water the lawn | 1,100 | Wash the car | 190 |
Water Use - Indirect
Agricultural | Industrial | ||
Item | Liters Used | Item | Liters Used |
1 egg | 140 | Mining/manufacturing | 640/person/day |
1 orange | 350 | Cooling electric plants | 2450/person/day |
1 ear of corn | 266 | 1 L gasoline | 50 |
1 loaf of bread | 147 | 1 kg steel | 270 |
1 kg flour | 578 | 1 newspaper | 980 |
1 kg sugar | 962 | 1 kg synthetic rubber | 2310 |
1 kg rice | 3853 | 1 kg aluminum | 7707 |
1 kg beef | 19,274 | 1 car | 331,888 |
1 Christmas tree | 18,053 | ||
1 barrel crude oil refined | 7,000 | ||
1 hamburger | 4,925 |
Percentage of water “consumed” by various uses
Power generation | 60 % | Municipal | 11 % |
Manufacturing | 20 % | Agriculture | 9 % |
Domestic Uses of Water
toilet flushing | 45 % | laundry | 20 % |
washing/bathing | 30 % | cooking/drinking | 5 % |
Questions
1. Estimate, off the top of your head, your individual daily water use in liters.
2. Using the table above, calculate your actual direct individual daily water use.
3. Compare your calculated water use with your estimated water use. Comment.
4. Assuming everyone is like you, determine the total daily water used by every student in the school.
5. Consider a few of the Indirect uses of water and explain why so much water is used for each.
6. Make a list of both the Direct and Indirect ways in which you use water.
7. Make suggestions for reducing your use of both.
8. Although domestic water use is a small fraction of our overall total, why is it important to conserve water at home?
9. What are the most common places where water is being wasted in the home?
10. What is the major use of water in the home?
11. What is the major use of water in Canada? How does this differ from the US?