Date: 2025-07-30 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00004237
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Your Footprint Calculator ... Your Water Footprint
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
Your Footprint Calculator ... Your Water Footprint
Your total household water use is 1,122 gallons per day. Your individual water use is 1,122 gallons per day. You do not have any low-flow shower heads in your home. By switching to low-flow shower heads, you can reduce water flow by over 1 gallon per minute. You do not have any low-flow toilets in your home. By switching to low-flow toilets, you can reduce your water use up to 2.5 gallons per flush. You do not have any low-flow faucets in your home. By switching to low-flow faucets, you can reduce your water flow by 3.5 gallons per minute. You don't always turn off the water while brushing your teeth. By remembering to turn off the faucet while you brush, you could save 4 or more gallons of water per day. You might want to consider 'letting it mellow' instead of flushing every time. By doing this, you'll save 10 or more gallons per day. Based on your response, your household uses more than 1 gallon of water per person per day - which is the national average - for dish washing. You may want to consider purchasing an Energy Star dishwasher and using fewer dishes when you cook and serve meals. By riding a bike, using public transit, carpooling or switching to a car with greater fuel efficiency (higher MPG), you can save water (and gasoline). Based on your response, at least one member of your household eats an average amount of meat and dairy foods. This means you indirectly consume over 1,000 gallons of water per day, primarily through the water required for the large amounts of feed the animal consumes. By eating meat and dairy less often, you can reduce your water use by hundreds of gallons per day. More Water-Saving Tips
Water Saving Tips: Outdoors There are a lot of ways to save water outside of your house. Read more to find out. Lawns and Gardens To reduce evaporation, water your lawn during the cool parts of the day, like in the early morning or late evening, and don’t water the lawn on windy days. Set up your sprinklers so they're not spraying the sidewalk or driveway make sure to turn them off on days when rain is expected, and get a rain sensor if you have automatic sprinklers. Use a drip irrigation system instead of a hose or sprinkler to water your garden, and hand-water your lawn or garden instead of using sprinklers when possible - you'll cut your water use in half. Set lawn mower blades one notch higher. Longer grass means less evaporation. Direct the water drain line from your air conditioner to a flower bed, tree base or onto your lawn. Xeriscape! Plant native species that don’t require additional watering around your house. Grassy lawns make sense in wet climates, but in dry areas like the south and southwest they're huge water-wasters. Swimming Pools and Summer Fun Use a pool cover - you'll save a thousand gallons of water from evaporating each month. Keep your pool water cool to reduce evaporation, and keep the water level low to reduce the amount of water lost to splashing. Check your pool for leaks often, and if you find a leak get it fixed as soon as possible. If your family wants to play with the hose or the sprinkler, make sure they do it in a dry part of the lawn that can use the water, and avoid buying water toys that require a constant stream of water. Washing Your Car Only give your business to car wash establishments that conserve and recycle their wash water. Don’t leave the hose running when you wash your vehicle. Purchase a squeeze (pistol grip) nozzle for your hose so you don’t have to turn the tap to start and stop the flow. Drive your car onto your lawn when you wash it by hand - you'll irrigate your lawn and get two jobs done at once!
Indoor Water Use at Home By taking simple steps to reduce your water use at home you can quickly be on your way to saving gallons − and dollars − every day! Indoor Water Use at Home When we want fresh, clean water in the United States, we are fortunate that all we have to do is turn on a faucet to get as many gallons as we want. We use this water for a variety of purposes. On average, our direct indoor water use comes to over 69 gallons of water per person per day. When you include all uses of water at home – both indoor and outdoor – an American family of four can use up to 400 gallons per day! No wonder Americans use more water per capita than most other countries in the world. Most indoor water use goes to toilets (about 27 percent), washing machines (about 22 percent), showers and baths (about 19 percent) and sinks (about 16 percent). Surprisingly, almost 14 percent of the water we use indoors is lost to leaky toilets and faucets—that’s nearly 10 gallons of water per person per day down the drain! Fortunately, saving water around the house is easier today than ever before. Modern toilets, showers and faucets are designed to be more efficient and can save your household many gallons per day. For example, older toilets can use up to 6 gallons per flush, whereas newer low-flow (water-saving) toilets use from 1.6 to 3.5 gallons, and high-efficiency models even less. Likewise, regular showerheads spray nearly 4 gallons per minute, while low-flow G models put out just over 2 gallons per minute, but be careful what showerhead you purchase. Some systems, especially those with multiple nozzles, exceed the federal limit on the amount of water that can flow from a showerhead (also consider cutting your shower time down by a few minutes). Energy- and water-saving appliances like dishwashers and laundry machines are now widely available. They not only save water but also money on your utility bills. Look for the Energy Star label when you buy appliances to save electricity, water and money all at the same time. By switching to water-saving fixtures and appliances, you can, on average, reduce your indoor water use by a third. To look for some of these water efficient products, check out EPA’s WaterSense program, which provides a product label backed by independent testing and certification. It’s also important to know that water heating is the second biggest user of energy behind air heating and cooling in most households. So running your hot water for no reason or taking unnecessarily long hot showers is wasting both water and energy! Although modern fixtures and appliances are a great way to save gallons, the key to home water conservation is still as simple − and free − as turning off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving. By taking simple steps to reduce your water use at home you can quickly be on your way to saving gallons − and dollars − every day! To find other ways to save water and energy visit the Water-saving Tips page. Washing dishes by hand takes about 20 gallons on average, per load. Dishwashers can be huge water-savers. Energy Star dishwashers use from 4 to 6 gallons of water per load and that number is still dropping. Even standard machines use only 6 to 8 gallons per load. If you do wash dishes by hand, you can save large amounts of water by turning off the tap while you sponge, soap and scrub, and only turning on the tap to rinse.
Water Saving Tips: In the Bathroom There are a lot of ways to save water in the bathroom. Read more to find out. Water Saving Tips: In the Bathroom At the Sink Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and shaving. Install low-flow faucet aerators in your sinks - you'll save gallons of water each time you use the tap. Fix those leaky faucets. You may think that a constant drip is just annoying, but it’s also a huge waste of water (you can lose about 20 gallons of water per day from a single drippy faucet!). In the Shower Put a bucket in the shower while you're waiting for the water to warm up, and use the water you catch for watering plants or cleaning. Install a low-flow shower head. It may cost you some money up front, but your water conservation efforts will save you money down the road. Spend less time in the shower. If you lose track of time in the shower, bring a radio into the bathroom and time yourself by how many songs play while you're in there. Try to get your shower time down to one song (or less). Toilets Get a low-flow toilet, or put a plastic bottle filled with water in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used per flush. To check for a toilet leak, put dye or food coloring into the tank. If color appears in the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak that should be repaired. “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” The saying may be cliche, but it’s good advice. If you're grossed out by the “yellow,” just put the toilet lid down. Don’t flush things down the toilet to dispose of them. Throw away tissues and other bathroom waste in the garbage can, which doesn’t require gallons of water. Learn more about saving water
Water Saving Tips: In the Kitchen There are a lot of ways to save water in the kitchen. Read more to find out. Water Saving Tips: In the Kitchen Cooking Wash vegetables and fruits in a large bowl or tub of water and scrub them with a vegetable brush – your faucet is not a power-washer! Think ahead! Don’t use water to defrost frozen foods. Instead, leave them in the fridge overnight. Boil food in as little water as possible to save water andcooking fuel. You just need enough to submerge your pasta and potatoes, and with less water you keep more flavor and nutrients in your veggies. Use the water left over from boiling to water your plants (just let it cool down first!). If you're planning on steaming veggies to go along with rice, potatoes or pasta, put your vegetable steamer right on top of the starchy foods you're boiling. You'll save water, dishes andspace on your stove. Doing Dishes Dishwashers almost always use less water than washing by hand, especially if they're energy-efficient models. Just make sure to only run the dishwasher when it’s completely full. When washing dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running the whole time. Just use a little to get your sponge soapy and wet then turn it off until you're ready to rinse a bunch of dishes all at once. Scrape dishes into the trash rather than rinsing. Newer dishwashers don’t even require pre-rinsing. Use the garbage disposal less and the garbage more (or even better, start composting!). When washing dishes by hand, use the least amount of detergent possible - this minimizes the water needed for rinsing. Drinking Water Keep a bottle or pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap to cool it each time you want a drink. Always choose tap water over bottled - it takes about 1.5 gallons of water to manufacture a single plastic bottle. Learn more about saving water in other areas of your home.
In the Heat of the Summer, Sweating Outdoor Water Use While hanging out in the yard can be carefree summer fun, saving water is serious business, especially as a devastating drought stretches over much of the US. But with these tips, conserving water doesn't have to be a drag. In the Heat of the Summer, Sweating Outdoor Water Use Summer is the peak season for residential water use, which can increase by an average of two to four times the typical winter water use. These big increases are driven by activities like car washing, filling swimming pools and (the real biggie) lawn and landscape irrigation. It makes sense then that July is the annual Smart Irrigation Month. While hanging out in the yard can be carefree summer fun, saving water is serious business. As one of the most devastating droughts in decades stretches over much of the United States this summer – with one-third of all counties in a state of water emergency – it’s easy to see that no section of the country is immune from drought or water scarcity. Conserving water doesn’t have to be a drag. Here are some cool outdoor water-saving tips you can use when the temperature heats up. Xeriscape! GIn other words, minimize or eliminate your lawn watering by creating a landscape that doesn’t need as much water. That could mean switching to native plants and trees – like succulents and cacti – that can survive entirely on rainwater, or installing rock gardens. Learn more about xeriscaping. Have a swimming pool? Use a pool cover! By covering your pool when you're not using it you'll stop thousands of gallons of water from evaporating, and you won’t have to clean it as often. Learn more about covering pools. Don’t let the hose run. Whether you're washing your car or watering your plants, don’t let the hose run when not in use. Buy a squeeze (pistol grip) nozzle for your hose so you don’t have to use the tap to start and stop the flow. Rainwater collection. If you can, set up a rain barrel under a rain gutter outside your house. You can catch hundreds of gallons to use for watering the lawn, washing the car, etc. Just don’t drink it, and make sure to keep it covered with a fine-mesh screen so it doesn’t breed mosquitoes. Check your local municipal regulations to see if a rain barrel is allowed. Learn more about rain barrels. Pack your own bottle. When you're on the go in town or traveling on vacation, avoid bottled water purchases by filling your own bottle with tap water from home. Not only will it you save money, but you'll save water (and energy) because it takes about three liters of water to produce a one-liter bottle of water. Be water-smart with your lawn. “Turf painting” is all the rage this year, but if you must water your lawn, to reduce evaporation, water during the cool parts of the day – early morning or late evening. Gusty winds also increase evaporation, so avoid watering on blustery days. Water, don’t waste. When setting up your sprinklers, make sure you're not watering the sidewalk or driveway. Not only does that squander already strained water supplies, it can also carry polluting fertilizers and pesticides into streets and sewer systems. Even better, installing a drip irrigation system can save water and knock some dollars off of your water bill and over time, can recoup your upfront investment. For more ways to save water outside and inside the house, at work, at school and on the road, check out our Water-saving Tips. LEARN MORE
The Hidden Water in Everyday Products Although unseen, millions of gallons of water go into the products we buy and use, which makes consumer awareness an important step towards water conservation. The Hidden Water in Everyday Products Although we don’t see it, millions of gallons of water go into the products we buy, use and throw away. The factories that manufacture everyday materials like paper, plastic, metal and fabric depend on water to make and clean their products. Becoming aware of how we use and reuse products is an important step towards water conservation. Water is used in the production of many materials and finished products we personally use everyday. Take cars, for example. It takes 75,000 gallons of water to produce one ton of steel. Since the average car contains about 2,150 pounds of steel, that means over 80,000 gallons of water is needed to produce the finished steel for one car. The gasoline that fuels a car also requires water consumption: approximately 1 to 2.5 gallons of water is used in the process of refining a gallon of gasoline. It takes 24 gallons of water to make 1 pound of another everyday material: plastic. In fact, it takes at least twice as much water to produce a plastic water bottle as the amount of water in the water bottle. And the water footprint of 1 pound of cotton is 1,320 gallons. That’s more than 700 gallons of water for one new cotton shirt. American industrial facilities withdraw over 18.2 billion gallons of fresh water per day. But due to increasingly efficient manufacturing practices, these factories have actually reduced water use by 30 percent since 1985. While many factories are making an effort to reduce their use and save water, American consumers aren’t always doing their part. In 2008, for example, we threw out 34.48 million tons of paper and 27.93 million tons of plastic — both of which are water-intensive materials that could be re-used and/or recycled. Every piece of paper and plastic container we toss in the trash is just water down the drain. Cutting back on consumption of manufactured goods reduces the number of products that are made, in turn reducing the amount of water used in factories. Additionally, recycling the products we've already used can have a positive effect. For example, you can save about 3.5 gallons of water just by recycling a pound a paper – the same amount found in a typical daily newspaper. By doing little things like recycling at home, reusing items when we can and using fewer plastic bags and paper towels, we can each make a big difference. Every drop counts!
The Water Footprint of Energy You may not realize it, but when you use energy, you're also using water indirectly - lots of it! The Water Footprint of Energy You may not realize it, but when you use energy, you're also using water indirectly—lots of it! For example, most electricity used in the United States is generated by thermoelectric power plants – fossil-fueled or nuclear-fueled facilities that use steam to turn turbines and generate electricity. Many thermoelectric power plants rely on outdated “once-through” cooling technology in which intake pipes withdraw G millions of gallons of water daily. In all, thermoelectric power Gplants account for an astonishing 49 percent of total water withdrawals in the United States, including water withdrawn from freshwater sources such as lakes, and saline water sources, such as estuaries. Power plants outfitted with once-through cooling Gsystems account for approximately 90 percent of water withdrawals for thermoelectric power. Plants equipped with “closed-cycle” cooling Gsystems make up the remainder. Once-through cooling system withdrawals have a devastating impact on aquatic ecosystems, because as they withdraw water they also draw in fish and other aquatic life, injuring or killing them in the process. In addition, when the cooling water is returned to its source it is 12 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than when it was withdrawn, further damaging aquatic life through “thermal pollution.” There are many energy options available today, both large- and small-scale, that require significantly less water than thermoelectric power plants. Switching to clean and sustainable energy sources like wind and solar power is an important step towards reducing our energy-related water use. Gasoline and oil consumption are also closely tied to water use, because oil refining requires large quantities of water. For instance, it is estimated that the United States withdraws 1 to 2 billion gallons of water to refine nearly 800 million gallons of petroleum products every day. Corn-based ethanol G, which the United States touts as an eco-friendly alternative fuel, places an even higher demand on water supplies than gasoline. A recent study found that as corn-based ethanol production doubled between 2005 and 2008, related water use more than tripled. On average, it takes 3.5 to 6 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol as compared to 1 to 2.5 to produce one gallon of gasoline. This water is generally drawn from Midwestern water supplies that are already under stress due to agriculture and drought. For example, Iowa’s ethanol plants each use about 400 million gallons of water per year – roughly the same amount of water used each year by a town of 10,000 people. Driving less, carpooling and using public transportation as much as possible are good ways to avoid fossil fuel use and save water. Also important is using less energy at home. This means doing things like switching to energy-efficient G appliances and light bulbs and turning off electronics when they're not being used. Water-efficient appliances also play a critical role: saving water saves energy which further reduces the strain on water resources and, of course, helps in the fight to clean our air and slow climate change. Small efforts to conserve energy G and water really add up, and we each have the power to save.