Common Water Uses and Amounts

Directions: Use this list to get a reasonable estimate of the amount of water used
for each of the following activities.

Washing Hands 1/4 gallon per minute
Showering 30 gallons per 10 minutes
Bath 40 gallons
Brushing teeth 1-2 gallons
Washing a car 20 gallons
Flushing a toilet 3.5 to 5 gallons/use, (low flow toilets 1.6 gallons)
Washing dishes w/ water running 20 gallons
Washing dishes w/ dishwasher 10 gallons
Laundry 30 gallons per load
Drinking Water 1/2 gallon per day
Watering lawn 240 gallons (30 minutes)

How Much Water Does It Take?

1. It takes 4,000 gallons of water to generate enough electricity to light a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours.
2. To produce the newsprint that newspapers use each day, it takes 300 million gallons of water.
3. To produce one gallon of milk, a cow must consume four gallons of water.
4. Eight gallons of water are needed to grow one tomato.
   

Please note: The above examples are used to illustrate the amount of water needed
to produce some everyday things.