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H2O: Did You Know?

For Immediate Release

December 14, 1998

(WEST TRENTON, N.J.) - Awareness is the first step in conservation. Hopefully, the following facts from the Delaware River Basin Commission will make you think twice about how you use water during these dry times:

  • The average person uses this much water daily: toilet flushing, 19 gallons; bathing and hygiene, 15 gallons; laundry, 8 gallons; kitchen, 7 gallons; housekeeping, 1 gallon. Total: 50 gallons.
  • Approximately two-thirds of residential interior water use is for toilet flushing and bathing.
  • An old vintage toilet uses between four and six gallons of water per flush. A low consumption model uses 1.6 gallons.
  • Leaks inside a toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day.
  • Hot water leaks not only are a waste of water, but a waste of the energy used to heat the water.
  • A top loading clothes washer uses between 40 and 55 gallons of water per load. Front loading models use roughly half that amount.
  • A dishwasher uses between eight and 12 gallons per load.
  • Approximately 90% of the water used to sprinkle lawns is either absorbed by the grass or lost to the atmosphere through evaporation. Less then 10% is returned to the hydrologic cycle.
  • A garden hose discharges up to six-and-a-half gallons of water per minute under standard household water pressure.
  • Soaker hoses and trickle systems reduce the amount of water used for irrigation by 20 to 50 percent.

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