Our Main Uses Of Water

In Australia, a typical household uses over 650 litres of water every day. This equates to around 240,000 litres (or 5 average sized swimming pools) each year. Up to half the water people use ends up as waste water. By understanding your main uses of water, you can more easily adopt water wise habits to reduce the volume of water your household consumes, reduce your water bills (or the cost of water deliveries) and help sustain the world’s precious water resources.

So, how do we use water?

In an average home, the breakdown of water usage usually looks like this:

• Flushing toilets – 20% (approx. 54,000 litres per year)

• Showers, bathing and other bathroom activities – 20% (approx. 54,000 litres per year)

• Washing clothes – 15% (approx. 40,500 litres per year)

• Dishwashing and other kitchen activities – 10% (approx. 27,000 litres per year)

• Watering the garden and other outdoor activities – 35% (approx. 94,500 litres per year)

It’s also useful to consider water use figures for individual household activities. These are as follows:

• Single cistern toilet flush – 10 litres

• Dual flush toilet flushes – 5 litres for single, 10 litres for full

• Bath – 100 litres

• 10 minute shower – 200 litres

• Brushing teeth with running tap – 5 litres

• Hand basin – 5 litres

• Dishwasher load – 50 litres

• Washing machine load – 150 litres

• Drinking, cooking and cleaning per person per day – 10 litres

• Garden sprinkler per hour – 1000 litres

• Garden dripper per hour – 4 litres

• Car washing with hose – 200 litres

• Hosing driveway – 100 litres

You and your household may use a lot of water each day, but there are ways to reduce your water use. Adopting easy-to-implement water saving habits, using water efficient appliances and even installing a Rain Harvesting system can all help you to save water and money without impacting on your lifestyle.

Click here to learn more about water wise habits and discover just how easily you can save water around your home.