Water
Annual water use has increased greatly in the last century. This is mostly because of garden and farmland irrigation, large livestock numbers for meat and dairy production, industrial processes, water-borne sanitation and the water-hungry appliances we use.
Typically, inside a New Zealand home, water use is broken down into:
- 30% - baths and showers
- 30% - toilet flushing
- 20% - kitchen use
- 20% - laundry
This translates to between 180 and 250 litres per person per day, plus water used outside the house. Summer can raise the average demand, inside plus outside, to 800 litres per day. Compare this to parts of India where people are limited to about 25 litres per day, or what they can carry.
Source of information
The information on this page is sourced from the Sustainable Living programme (opens in a new window).
Last reviewed: 15 Jul 2008 12:53pm
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