Water, and especially clean water is an essential part of our lives. We rely on it to survive. We drink it, bathe in it, grow food with it and cook with it, just to name a few. In the United States, we sometimes take clean water for granted. We turn on our water faucet and assume the water is clean, but that’s not always the case.
Pollutants
For many of us, water is a regulated resource, with the responsibility to provide it falling on the local governments. The Safewater Drinking Act, passed in 1974 regulates pollutants and sets standards for levels of contamination from lead, arsenic, copper and many others. Even with these EPA regulations in place, millions of people are exposed to unsafe and polluted drinking water.
Water Shortages
Polluted water is not the only water issue we currently face. With increasing populations and decreasing rainfall, water shortages are becoming a reality. The average American uses 80 to 100 gallons of water per day, that’s more than 345 billion gallons a day for the country as a whole. As average temperatures continue to rise that amount will only go up and put further strain on our water resources.
How We Use Water
Of the nearly 100 gallons of water each of use on a typical day, on average 70% of that occurs indoors for things like showering, cooking, drinking, brushing your teeth and many other things. Outdoor use is typically higher in drier areas of the country and is used primarily to water yards and landscapes.
| Where do we use water? | How much do we use? |
| Shower | 20% |
| Faucet | 19% |
| Toilet | 24% |
| Washing Clothes | 17% |
| Water Leaks | 12% |
| Other | 8% |