- Water is the most common substance found on the earth.
- Of all the earth’s water, 97% is salt water located in oceans and seas. Only 1% of the earth’s water is available for drinking.
- There are more than 200,000 individual water systems providing water to the public in the United States.
- Public water suppliers process 34 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.
- Approximately 1 million miles of pipeline and aqueducts carry water in the United States and Canada. That’s enough to circle the earth 40 times.
- Sixty-one percent of Americans rely on lakes, rivers, and streams as their source of drinking water. The other 39% rely on groundwater – water located underground in aquifers and wells.
- The average daily requirement for fresh water in the United States is about 338 billion gallons per day.
- You can survive about a month without food, but only five to seven days without water.
- Each person uses about 100 gallons of water a day at home.
- The average 5 minute shower takes between 25 and 50 gallons of water.
- The average automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of water, while hand washing dishes can take up to 20 gallons.
- If every household in America had a faucet that dripped once each second, we would waste 928 million gallons per day.
- More than 39,000 gallons of water are used to manufacture a new car, including tires.
- One gallon of gasoline can contaminate approximately 750,000 gallons of water.