Sector
Households
Domestic water use is a small share of national withdrawal in most countries — commonly under 15% — but it is the use people see, it must be treated to drinking standard, and it is delivered through the most expensive infrastructure per unit volume of any sector.
Key facts
- Typical UK household use
- around 140 litres per person per day
- Typical shower
- 8–15 litres per minute
- Typical bath
- 80–100 litres
- Modern dual-flush toilet
- 4–6 litres per flush
- Washing machine cycle
- 45–60 litres
What drives water use in this sector
- Whether the property is metered — metering typically reduces consumption by roughly 10–15%
- Household size, since per-person use falls as household size rises
- Appliance and fitting efficiency
- Garden size and climate
- Supply pipe leakage on the customer side
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Sources
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — AQUASTAT — Global Information System on Water and Agriculture. Public but restricted · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- United States Geological Survey — Estimated Use of Water in the United States. Open · US Government work — public domain
- International Energy Agency — Water–energy nexus analysis. Public but restricted · Publisher terms — public access, reuse not clearly granted