The Average Gallons Of Water People Consume Each Day

The average daily water consumption by ordinary people living in the modern world may be more than you think!

The purpose of this post is to simply point out how much water we use every day, and how important it is in our lives.

Most everyone depends on a steady flow of clean water coming out of the faucet. If that flow ever stops… Well, I’ll leave it at that… (to get you thinking)

The numbers may be stunning…

The following is a re-post of a previous article.
An important reminder of what we take for granted.

It’s easy to underestimate how much water we use in normal everyday life. When it flows out of the faucet at home it may not seem like much – but throughout the day it all adds up to a surprising volume of water.

Lets look at the various categories of water consumption and the amount of water which might be consumed each day under normal conditions.

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Aqua-Tainer 7 Gallon Rigid Water Container
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Water For Drinking

The human body needs to replenish with water. It is said that on average the human body cannot survive beyond 3 days without water. Throughout each day we consume various forms of water – some of which is in our foods and others in the various liquids we drink.

It is a widely accepted recommendation to store 1 gallon of water for each survival day of drinking water. That’s 16 cups per day. While you probably are not drinking that much water each day today, if you had no other source of liquid intake you may approach that number – especially in hot weather or while under exertion.

Water For Washing Hands And Hygiene

When the faucet is ‘running’, there is more water flow than you may think, which adds up fast. Old faucets can use up to 5 gallons per minute while newer faucets flow about 2 gallons per minute. Lets say on average it’s 3 gallons per minute.

How often do you wash your hands (for whatever reasons) throughout the day? Running water while brushing your teeth? Etc.?

I will speculate that an average daily water usage in this category might be 2 gallons.

Water For Cooking

The amount of water used for food preparation and cooking will also depend on what you’re eating each day. Some foods require a good amount of water (boiling pastas, rice, beans, potatoes, etc..) while others do not.

Again, we need to estimate an average. I would guess that nearly every dinner meal during a given week might require a pot filled with water to boil something – maybe two…? Even for those of you who go out to eat, or take-out, etc… someone else is still consuming water to prepare your food.

So lets just say that you might consume 1 gallon of water per day for cooking (more or less) on average.

Water For Washing Dishes

This category of water use can vary widely. Either you wash your pots and pans, dishes and utensils by hand (wide variation of water use depending on how you do this) – or you put them in the dishwasher. Either way you are consuming water.

Generally, a modern automatic dishwasher will use much less water than you doing it by hand. The current ‘energy star’ rated dishwasher is required to use less than 4.25 gallons of water per cycle (as of 2012). Older dishwashers will use more – previous energy star rating was 5.8 gallons (2009), and still older dishwashers will use up to 10 gallons per cycle.

If you’re hand washing dishes, the amount of water you’ll consume varies greatly depending on your method and how many dishes you’re washing. Some people let the water faucet run the entire time while rinsing. Others use rinse basins and wash basins, etc.. I will guess that water consumption for hand washing dishes may range from 10 to 30 gallons (‘normal usage’ while not paying attention to conservation efforts).

Since most people in the modern world use an automatic dishwasher (4 – 10 gallons), while some will hand wash dishes (10 – 30 gallons) lets say that on average the water consumption is about 8 gallons.

Water For Flushing The Toilet

Every time you flush the toilet, you are consuming at least 2 gallons (modern toilets) or even 3 or 4 gallons (older toilets). So the question is, how many times do you flush a toilet every day?

That depends of course, but on average I would guess 6 to 8 times a day, which would amount to about 20 gallons of water consumption per day on average.

Water For Washing Clothes

Most people don’t wash laundry every day – but certainly at least once a week. Again, this depends on how many are in the household and the lifestyle which may or may not warrant more clothes washing than others.

A top-loading washing machine consumes LOTS of water, and on average about 40 gallons per load (some are much more). A front-loading washing machine may consume on average about 20 gallons per load (some are less).

Lets average the water usage to 30 gallons per load. If you only wash one load per week (probably a good average for one person), you will consume about 4 gallons of water per day.

Water For Bathing/Showering

Most people shower rather than bathe in a full bathtub of water. A modern efficient shower head may flow about 2 or 3 gallons per minute. Other shower heads will blast out much more than that. Let’s go with 3 gallons per minute as an average. A 10 minute shower will use about 30 gallons of water.

Drawing a bath for a half-full bathtub of water may consume about 50 gallons of water.

Some people shower every day while others not so much. Lets go with a daily shower on average and usage of 30 gallons of water per day.

ADD IT ALL UP

Of course there will be wide variations, but…

According to my (very general) estimations listed above, on average each person may consume 66 gallons of water each day.

Generally, in the United States there are about 2.5 people per household. So the water consumption figure jumps to 165 gallons per day.

Typically, an emergency situation is fairly short-lived, and your emergency water storage or consumption needs will be nowhere near what you would normally use each day.

You will obviously need drinking water (although your faucet might still be flowing with water – you should plan as though it’s not). 1 gallon per day.

You should store at least minimal extra water for cleaning/hygiene. 1 gallon per day.

Apart from that, you can flush a toilet without running water by using this method which will consume about 3 gallons per flush (more or less) with ‘gray’ water. During an emergency you will conserve your flush habits (I will leave it to your imagination). ‘Flush’ water obviously does not have to be pure drinking water (safe for drinking) but instead could come from a bucket you’ve collected ‘down by the river’, etc..

70 Comments

  1. Ken;

    Seems your numbers are exactly right on, my monthly water usage (I live by myself) is 64.5 gallons PER DAY on average over a year’s time, 300+ gallons more per month if I’m brewing home-brew beer twice a month. AND another 500-700 per month for the Garden. (Yes I do save brewing water for the garden in the summer.)

    And I’m at work 5 days a week, so not adding in that usage. Could anyone imagine using only 1 gallon a day? Forget it, will not happen. OMG I’m a water hog…. HAHAHAHA
    NRP

    1. Thanks for you validating comment. I also suspect there are many who use lots more water than that…

      1. My WINTER usage is 3,000 per month if I am careful. That is 100 gallons per day. In summer, when I am watering my yard and garden, it runs 13,000 in May to 33,000 in August. I have 2 rain barrels. We have about 6-7 inches precipitation per year, most of it in April and May. The Town says that our artesian well will supply us water indefinitely as long as the pipes are ok. it just won’t be treated. After that, there is a river 1/2 mile away and there is a paved sidewalk leading to it where I can wheel my cart to collect (maybe 3 or 4) 5 gallon jugs at a time. That river water is not clean in normal times!

        1. Wow, that’s a lot of water in winter. How many peeps are in your household? Wife & I for past 10 years of tracking use 1000 a month. More in summer for gardens, which is pumped from our well or out of our pond. If it’s yellow let it mellow, if brown flush it down. Urine is high in nitrogen, use it in your gardens.

    2. One needs to realize there is a GOD in heaven who loves us so much to give us all the water we need for our daily living!

      1. One also needs to realize that there are HUMANS that poison, pollute, and dam up the water that other humans need for daily living. We have a knack for trying to destroy our Creator’s best gifts.

  2. Ken

    Is there some place we can post a URL link to you, of something we think you might find of interest?

    1. @Anon, To contact me directly, there is a ‘Contact’ link at the bottom of the page.

  3. As usual, your article covers the most essential and with good detail. Thank you for keeping the thoughts coming! I really enjoy your site and the insight included!

  4. What electricity has done for modern society with water pumps—washing machines, showers, bathtubs, dishwashers, car washes, power plants, nuclear plants, so on and so forth. If you add it all up for each person’s use, it really goes down the toilet! It is a big part of our “Throw-Away Society”.

    I don’t use that much water, for heaven’s sake. I use as much as a primitive camper. My septic froze up so I only use about 6 gallons a day for the 5 of us–including my 4-100+ lb shepherds.

    1. I have to agree with both Ken and Stardust.

      I myself have always conserved water so I am on the lower end of the scale. My water sources are Well, City (if I choose), three different spring’s, and the Tennessee River not to mention the creeks.

      Like Ken has pointed out in previous articles water is a primary survival must have but you need alternative water to replenish supplies. I hope by now everyone has a good Waterway Map of their region and has knowledge of clean spring’s that require little prep before using.

  5. Nice article Ken.

    If I were designing a new house I would give serious thought to gray water diversion valves. It wouldn’t be difficult or expensive. Watering the garden and toilet flushing come immediately to mind. If it were filtered we could even shower with it, followed by a quick freshwater rinse.

    We spent some time in Mexico on a small sailboat with limited tank-age. We did have a small reverse osmosis water-maker that we used to make about 5 gallons a day. Washed the dishes in saltwater, rinsed in saltwater and spritzed with freshwater from a spray bottle. We cooked mostly with fresh water.

    Jumped in the ocean and climbed into the dinghy to wash up. Jumped back in to rinse off. Then rinsed with freshwater from a solar shower and shampooed the hair. It was sobering to think about how much water we used ashore (and do again) because of it’s relative abundance.

    1. You will run into stiff resistance from .gov pukes when trying to reuse gray water. Anything that could possibly allow cross contamination of the municipal supply system will be vetoed by ‘the authorities’. Any such project would have to be done under the radar.

  6. Ken,
    The design of wastewater treatment facilities use the same numbers. I can assume the pounds of waste/water to be treated daily just by the population data + connections to our system.

  7. It has been a while since I have been on here. I have since moved to my 40 acres at 8000 feet and am living off grid and hauling water from the community artesian well.

    Since my big tank is frozen I am using gallon and five gallon jugs. We are a family of 4 and we are using about 50 gallons a week for everything except laundry. But I can tell you we used a lot more when it was as convenient as flipping a switch or turning on faucet !

    1. Congratulations on your move! Looks like you have internet access, even at 8000 feet ;)

      1. Yup, solar for electric with back up jenny for cloudy days. And unlimited internet with a dish. Still canning the same as in Arkansas. .. Put up a bunch of mushrooms a couple days ago. When you have a well and grid electric you don’t realize what you use.

        Boy living like this you know exactly because when you run out of water or the batteries get too low it is a big deal. Loving it!!! Went from a 3000 ft house to about. 550 square feet. Still adjusting!

        1. Sounds great. It sounds like Southern Colorado. If it is Colorado you can sink a well and use the water need on an acre.

    2. Christine,

      Congratulations on your family’s transition! I’m sure the new environment has brought on new challenges and adjustments. Sounds like the the higher elevation will bring a cooler winter, hope you have plenty of split wood ready! Hope you have a plentiful supply of wood for future years to come.

      Stay Safe!!

      1. I only use 20 gallons a week! I have four 5gallon jugs that last me 7 days. I boil water for tea everyday and use the remaining water to rinse off 1 or 2 dishes, since its really hot it doesnt require that much. Also Im fruitarian so cooking is pretty basic. My running water is broken so I actually cant shower either. Living like this is actually not as difficult as it might seem. I think everyone should be a little more conscious of their usage of resources. (Money is not a resource) Did you know that the water it takes to produce 1 pound of beef is equivalent to the average Californian showering everyday for 6 months, so by simply not eating beef, you are saving thousands of gallons of water.

  8. Have seen discussions about what type of container/where to get to use for water storage.

    Saw what looked to me to be a great one, on kijiji…check out for your local area on kijiji. I looked the container type etc up on google, and seems good.

    On line it is called
    1200L intermediate bulk container

    On kijiji, it was called
    1200L fluids containers

    On kijiji, they were selling it two for fifty dollars. Seemed pretty good price. I currently have no place for one, so didn’t contact. But, is good idea to keep Kijiji in mind for sourcing this and other stuff.

  9. Hunted around some more on that container, sure does seem like a good deal.

    found, at the “eco store”
    Schutz IBC Container 1000L – On a Steel or Plastic Pallet
    €329.95 , and that one is 200 L smaller

  10. If you can tolerate used or refurbished, containerexchanger, has some good buys. Don’t forget the www and com stuff.

  11. Hunt around I found food grade 250 gallon tanks with a steel cage for 25 bucks.

  12. How many people hear actually drink a gallon of water a day? Most people drink 4 cups a day and half of that is from coffee. Storing that much water is pointless and physiologically unnecessary.

    1. I would guess that most people drink more than four cups of liquids a day. Personally, I drink about eight cups of water a day, plus three cups of milk. I know people who drink several cans of soda a day, and each can is 1.5 cups. While I may not drink a full gallon of water each day, I believe that it’s not an unreasonable amount to speculate, especially (as Ken said) when it is hot or I’m under a lot of exertion.

    2. I drink well over that gallon a day just with water not counting tea in the morning, a diet soda at times at night or what’s in my food.

    3. I live in a fairly warm climate (especially this time of year) and I drink about 8 cups of water (sometimes more) per day. I do not drink coffee, but my hubby does (a luxury if water is short).

      But, it’s not just the drinking water – it’s the water for personal hygiene, flushing (if possible), cleaning cookware, cooking dried foods (all the beans, rice, pasta, dehydrated), growing small containers of food plants, and so on.

      I don’t have access to a lake, creek, etc…at home – so water is a big deal for us. Sure, we would treat water as our most precious commodity – but I can’t afford to have a relaxed attitude about it… I must store water to survive an emergency until we can get to a place where water is readily available to us.

    4. Really?

      I might want to investigate causes of kidney problems. Increasing fluids can help keep your kidneys flushed and thus keep your kidneys much healthier in your latter years.

  13. How can you not mention the amount of water it takes to produce the food we eat?

    1. @russ, Because that was not the context of the article. I was referring to an average amount of water used in a household.

      With that said, yes, certainly it takes some amount of water to grow (produce) food, else we would all be dead from starvation ;) Water is our life blood, and we actually contain a very high percentage of water within our bodies…

  14. Excellent Subject to start people thinking and planning for their water storage. We have a 1000 gal storage under ground and gravity feed piping at our BOL.

    On the issue of survival, if you find yourself having to be mobile and having to find water. Amazon has several types four way faucet keys that will four different types of exterior water faucets. In a pinch, one of these might serve as a life saver in finding just enough water. These are fairly small little tools that can be placed in a coat pocket without weighing you down.

    1. Hi BW,

      I need that… I am looking this up today. In a long-term emergency we would likely have to bug-out at some point and our 2 possible BOL’s are quite a ways away. This could be invaluable to me. Thanks very much!!

      1. Ken

        What kind of buildings or ? have exterior faucets these can be used on?
        (I suspect we are not thinking fire hydrants?)

        1. @ Anon

          FYI, new building construction codes require that all homes and commercial buildings have an “outside faucet”. Most homes will have the everyday handle on them, 99.99% of the commercial buildings will have the same sort of faucet but without the handle. Also mostly these faucets will be by the driveways or at the rear of the buildings.

          As far as a Fire Hydrant “wrench” those are also cheap, but don’t get caught messing with the Fire Hydrants, it is a misdemeanor with a healthy fine attached if you don’t have a permit to use them.

          NRP

        2. But under the proposed circumstances, when people are using these keys to get water as they travel after SHTF, I think that misdemeanors and fines will be the least of their worries.

        3. Ken,

          Just to add some experiences I have had with those valves…

          For those who live in the harsher climates these hose bibs will be anti freeze valves. While the bib is on the exterior wall the actual valve you are turning with the “key” is about 18″ inside the wall. The theory is that way the last part of the water pipe will be void of water when the valve is shut so no water to freeze. No burst pipe.

          They can be a little difficult to turn with the “key. I keep a small pair of Vise grips for extra leverage.(BTW, all these valves can be hard to turn. Especially if not used much.)

          Also, depending how it was plumbed a certain amount of the water may of been standing in the pipe for awhile. On regular commercial/industrial buildings I would run out the initial water to flush any suspect water. Either that or treat the water.

          My first choice for water would be convenience stores, fast food, sit down restaurants. They use their hose bibs all the time. Valves will be easier to turn on and the water will be fresher out of those places.
          Just my 2 cents…

        4. SoCalGal, you’re welcome. It is a good place to get water as these valves are used all over the country. The standard key fits most but not all the valves out there. (Usually get them at H.D. or hardware stores for 5 or 6 bucks.)

          For that reason I would order the 4 way key that Ken has Link to on MSB. That will handle anything you come across.

          I suggest all should find a building where you can try the key out now before it may be really be needed. Then you can see how it works and how hard they can be to open.

          BTW, my wife has both in her vehicle and I have shown her how to open them at her workplace.
          It is a good skill and a great tool to carry…

      1. Most “freeze proof” hose bibs only shut off 8-10″ inside the building. I’VE HEARD OF PIPES FREEZING AS FAR AS 2′ inside. In OH, fire sprinkler inspectors’ drains are required to have at least 4′ of pipe between the valve and building exit point.

  15. My normal usage is between 500 and 600 gallons per month, which amounts to 16 to 20 gallons per day. As I only have 150 gallons stored indoors at this time, I’d have to cut my usage to 5 gallons per day for it to last a month. If I had the time to fill a WaterBob in an emergency, I’d have 200 gallons or 6.6 gallons per day for that month.

    I originally wanted to install an underground cistern, but I’m on a hillside of rock, and what isn’t rock is taken up by lateral fields. I discovered this when I tried to have an underground propane tank installed (what a mess that made of the yard with a backhoe)!

    I’d like to store more, but I have no idea how to keep it from freezing during the winter months in an above ground tank. As it stands, after a month I’ll have to start walking down the street to the lake and hauling it home.

    1. Just thinkin’..consider.. and keep on trying to come up with answers to your issue…
      ..The larger the tank the colder it would need to get to completely freeze… If possible to put a huge tank on the south side of house where it would absorb sun and heat during the day, would take a very long time to freeze. Could make fittings very large, or brass and use heat tape on those..so much depends on your positioning and tank size…bales of hay could be used near bottom to add insulation/mass near inlets and outlets. Rock holds heat very well…should give some benefit..
      In some areas a building is made to contain the water tanks.. one of You tubers uses that method to keep from freezing. They don’t have a well and use rainwater for all needs.

    2. KYFiona,
      also: It sounds like you have been working on this problem a while… Don’t forget to re use some of that water for other uses,… dish water can be used for flushing and gardening established plants.. and so can laundry water. Having an extra 2 or 3 five gallon buckets can sure come in handy for retaining some of this water for such uses. I keep a variety of buckets,.. marked differently for this purpose. …can designate as needed. Don’t forget your hot water tank. Unless it is a tankless model, will provide valuable amount. another possible place to store,…If you have any space under the floor, a half basement,or crawl-space? If i saw i was running out of water and it was safe to go out, I would start well before my supply was nearing an end.. and reserve my known water, using river/lake water for washing dishes after it was boiled. and or filtered…My goal would be to keep as many of my containers full as possible..Just putting that out to consider.

  16. As I had commented when this article first came out, I’m a water hog… HAHAHA

    Current usages, according to my bills, are running between 1000 and 2000 per month, maybe a month or two in summer I’ll hit 3000. So an average of 50 gallons a day. Of course that’s complete household use and garden/brewing. Winters will cut to 1000 per month.

    What I find absolutely NUTS is the ideas of people living, after the first 3 days or a week, on only 1 gallon of water a day. I still think that’s foolish to think that anyone could do that. I guess if you’re Grizzly Adams living/bathing/pooping/eating/drinking in the woods, then OK, but no way in heck would anyone I know be able to accomplish that, all alone 320,000,000 sheeple do that.

    In order of importance for “modern living” Sheeple;
    Flowing-Water, not that most even take a shower once a week
    Fast-Food, God only knows people don’t know how to cook anymore
    Cheap-Electricity, got to have the TV and “modern” electronics running, Smart-Phone, do NOT even get me started on that
    Motel-Six or anyplace to hold up and get whacked out on drugs
    Other than that, they are good to go.

    Back to water, the stats tell us that 80% or more of the American public is on the verge of dehydration. And that’s with flowing Tap-Water, can ya imagine what will happen when TSHTF and the taps stop, along with 95% of everything else?

    Ya better get ready my friends, Winter is coming.

    NRP

    1. I wanted to add.

      Last year when the EPA turned the Animas River orange when they polluted it, I happened to stop by my local Safeway Food Store on the way home, there were two Semi Trucks in the parking lot selling Bottled Water for Safeway, dozens of people lined up buying cases and cases.

      I happened to walk over and ask a guy filling the back of his pickup full “where do you live?” he replied his home was in Bloomfield, which is south about 10 miles…. My comment back.. “you do know that Bloomfield does not pull water from the Animas, they pull from the San Juan”. He just stood there like a complete fool with his mouth open in confusion, I simply walked away… HAHAHA What an idiot, and so very typical of the Sheeple and how they will react.

      NRP

      PS; decided to leave before the true fools showed up with a run on the store. If ya don’t got “it” when the SHTF, don’t plan of getting “it”.

      1. NRP,

        Re: that last comment, unless one has an abundance of Bartering Supplies, you’re right!! Getting what we need now and then some places us ahead of the of most of society. BUT, it also means that everyone that knows you as a prepper had better be a trusted friend that you rely on to keep their mouth shut that may also share in the responsibilities of your band of brothers.

  17. U.S Drought Monitor is a good site for seeing how the nation compares to previous averages.

    We are in trouble.

    Some places are way down with parts of southern California being describes as exceptional. Other parts of the nation are being deluged. I spoke with one of my brothers yesterday and he said that Norfolk Virginia just got 12 inches in 2 days. A friend just put up a swimming pool as a cheap source of water storage. I personally think that the nation needs to think about digging reservoirs for storing excess rainfall.

    We also need to stop foreign nationals from taking our water. We have laws in place that prevent tankers from sailing with water but container ships sail with millions of gallons of bottled water. The Saudis have a hay farm in Arizona where they are depleting the groundwater to grow Alfalfa for their cattle in Saudi Arabia. Who knows what else is going on.

    1. The twits in CA should have been building reservoirs during the last drought. But they have done nothing, just cried about “climate change”

    2. a few weeks ago,its Sept 2022 now,I read California started emptying one of their major reservoirs..wth..!

  18. We are still waiting on the well driller! They are very busy in our area. Owner spoke about his backlog of customers wanting wells, hinting to the prepping factor. We are going to get a hand pump as not to rely on electric. As for consumption we try to have good city water karma and filter in a Berkey. Will use the well also IF they ever get here.

    1. We have a shallow well that is not in use because we are on city water now but should SHTF we could use until we ran out of fuel. I bought a hand pump (picture pump with extra bellows) and installed it to see how it would work and it does take some elbow grease to get a five gallon bucket full but better than nothing. The added piece of mind is priceless.

      1. If you are not regularly using the well for some of your needs, you should pump some out every few weeks to keep it fresh.. 2 or 3 5 gallon buckets, depending on the quanity in it… you should also have it tested to see if any contaminants are in it from pesticide, even if you don’t use, if it is ground water could be contaminated…. they do make filters that will remove most out of it, 90-99%,and these also remove medications from it as well..

  19. I just remembered living in Palm Springs for work one summer. The house I was renting a room in had a pool. It lost five to six inches of water a day to evaporation from the heat. God but it was hot. The pool felt so good because it was only 104 when the air was 114. I can’t help but wonder how many gallons a day are used to keep southern California’s pools full. Not to forget that their are other states with the same problem.

    We do practice if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down. We’re also fortunate to be on a septic system. It will be very easy if need be to put an outhouse over the septic pump out access.

  20. I know that Nestles bottling has come under fire for taking millions of gallons of water for almost free while the average person gets a horrendous bill and in some places a huge fine for a few hundred gallons. Nestles wanted(s) to build a plant in the Columbia Gorge. It was on the ballot up there but don’t know how it came out.

  21. Two water saving gadgets I have are the Kwik Sip and shower regulator.

    The Kwik Sip attaches to a faucet and makes it into a drinking fountain. The bathroom one is for rinsing your mouth after brushing your teeth. The kitchen one is a fountain. Sure saves on glasses (think children who always want a clean glass. The shower one is attached at the shower head and turns off the waterwheel soaping up.)

    My greatest use of water is the greenhouse (20×24). An outbreak of aphids and I had to wash down all the leaves. Deep watering at least once a week uses an enormous amount of water.

  22. To NRP:

    A gallon a day would be a conservative amount when working hard in a desert region(carry a pack in morning and evening hours/night travel). Water was for by mouth only consumption. This is also to include other drinks like fruit juice which may/may not be found in fire camp. In dry camps away from roads, water was for drinking only. Personal grooming went by the wayside and we all smelled like goats.

    When we returned to the land of flush toilets and running water, I remember watching the brown and gray water going down the drain as I showered the accumulated grime off my body. My longest time on the line before being relieved: 8 days(it sucked! I stunk and people stayed far away from me until we got a chance to hit the showers and bathrooms.)

    When living in the off grid cabin(care taking in winter) I kept track of water used when I washed and prepped food. That was another area of high water use if you eat a lot of fresh vegetables and salads. Those years fighting wild-land fire made me appreciate well prepared, fresh food and the simple pleasure in taking a long, hot shower.

    In dry camp, to prevent fecal contamination with food, we ate out of cans and we washed with moist disposable cloths like Baby wipes in individual packs. If you did this as a habit, you generally did not get sick. Lastly: We ALL packed plenty of our favorite TP. In Dry Camp, it is referred to as “Mountain Money”.

  23. Melbourne Australia recently went through a 14 year drought.

    The state government came up with a slogan program to try and get household consumers to limit their average daily use to 155 litres per day (41 U.S. gallons). In real life the average consumption did drop down to something like 160 to 175 litres per day.(42 – 46 US gallons per day).

    This was a pure propaganda exercise to make the government look like they were actually doing something about water consumption. This did not take into account commercial consumption.

    e.g. A local industrial laundry uses more water in one day than an entire domestic suburb does in one month.

    In reality the biggest user of fresh water – by far – is the agricultural industry.

    The biggest issue with fresh water in the coming years will be the depletion of the worlds fresh water aquifers. – The Olgalla aquifer being a good example.

    When these get to unusable levels there will be water wars.

  24. I think most take water for granted, turn on the tap, out runs water.

    I also think most pay little attention to the amount of water on their bills.

    When the bad times come and some folks are carrying water from spring or creek, or hand pumping onto containers, the amount of water for daily use will become very evident.

  25. It is shocking how much an American wastes. Irving in the mountain southwest we use about 30 gallons per person, but that is also shared with animals and gardens. Also water capture will be important with a useful filtration.

  26. By guttering your roof to a large tank, a new septic fiberglass tank will work great, you can harvest great amounts of rain water. If you will elevate the tank higher than your water hydrants you can have slow running water with no electricity involved. Be sure to make a small wire mesh filter to go in your downspout to filter our the leaves etc. To clean the very bottom of accumulated material use a syphon hose( length of garden hose) shoved down to the material and it will suck it out without losing much good water. Check around and see how shallow ground water is in your area. A hand drilled shallow well and a hand pump works too. If you have a well with a air compressor that blows the water out of your deep well into a settling tank a five horsepower gas rotor tiller can be eaisly rigged up to replace the electric motor and will blow your settling tank full in a couple minutes. I did this one time after a hurricane and it works good says the old swamp rat.

    1. We currently have 4 rain barrels in place for our gardens..the plants like that much better..

    1. Caylin,
      What do you drink?… tea, coffee, koolaid, cola, orange juice, apple juice? . all use water in the mixing/manufacture process. We .. also use water for personal/oral hygeine and for cooking. Some water is in canned foods, and tho we might not use that water now , in a grid down w/ limited water it could be necessary…
      The important thing is to have enough for all your needs for a few weeks until you can obtain more. , as long as you are looking at what you do drink and stocking enough for your basic needs ,… that is the take away I got from this article..
      .The two of us currently use 1.5 gallons of water daily for ice alone.. If the power goes out ,I will really miss my ice.! We will have a little, but not in the quanities I consume now… We use about 8-10 gallons daily for ice/cooking, washing dishes, personal care and drinking. That does not include commode, washing clothing or complete baths.
      Could I cut that some by changing how i wash dishes, smaller container for water instead of using whole sink, and what i wash, using paper plates or such?… yep.

  27. I have different habits than my 42 yr old daughter who lives with us now. I use a basin for rinsing dishes when doing some by hand-I load the dishwasher fully which uses less gallons.She likes to do most of them by hand,and just runs the water all the time.I hav an artesian well,but now I have to retrain her.I dont like wasting all that water. When we were little and our newly acquired houses only had outhouses, we used our dishwater all the time for flushing toilet when we had the toilet but no plumbing to it.We took our showers outside on the backside of house in our bathing suits and bar of soap or down at the river from late spring to fall…those were some creative good times..

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