How much water does one person use each day?
The average person uses nearly 100 gallons each day. The amount used for cooking and drinking varies among individuals, but is only a small percentage of the total amount. Water use also varies depending on whether or not the lawn is watered or a home has a dishwasher.

Because a community uses water for other purposes than just residential use, a PWS (Public Water System) pumps much more water than that used for households. A study of more than 1,000 PWS in the United States showed that to supply all the water needed for all uses, the average amount of water pumped was 180 gallons per day per person.

What uses more water, a dishwasher or washing dishes by hand?
The average dishwasher uses 10 to 15 gallons of water per load, while washing dishes by hand can use up to 20 gallons, about 2 gallons for every minute you allow the water to run. Washing full loads of dishes only in the dishwasher is the best solution, assuming that you avoid lengthy rinsing of dishes while loading the dishwasher.

How much of the earth’s water is available for drinking?
Less than 1 percent of the earth’s water is suitable to become human drinking water. Ninety-seven percent of the earth’s water is salt water, and the other 2 percent is frozen in glaciers.

Is the Miami Valley Buried Valley Aquifer being replenished enough to keep pace with its use?
Another way to ask this question would be, “Is the water table remaining at least constant over time?” or “Will our well supply enough water for the future?” It varies by location within the aquifer, but generally the answer is “yes.” Data from downtown Dayton shows that the water table has actually risen—probably due to reduced heavy industrial use. Some suburban cities and small towns do have growing populations, requiring those communities to develop additional wellfields.

Figures on this page based on Internet reports.