Water Needs and Their Evolution - Hydrogeology: Objectives, Methods, Applications - page 171

C HAPTER C1

Water Needs and Their
Evolution

1 WATER CONSUMPTION

The annual consumption in France is approximately 35 billion cubic
meters, 6 billion of which are for domestic needs. 7 billion are provided by
groundwater, 50% of which is for the drinking water supply.
The all-purpose per capita consumption varies greatly by country,
between 6,000 m 3 per year for the United States and 7 m 3 per year for
countries in the Sahel. The average is around 600 m 3 per year per person.
The global consumption doubles every twenty years. In 2025 the world
population is projected to reach 8 billion people, yet today around 25% of
the planet's inhabitants do not have access to potable water. The medium-
term outlook is therefore highly worrisome.
The main uses of water, and in part of groundwater, are as follow:

￿ domestic uses:
- dietary needs: drinking, washing and cooking of food;
- household needs: sanitation, toilet fl ushing, heating, washing of
laundry and dishes;
- amenities: watering gardens, washing cars, fi lling pools;
￿ collective and public uses:
- fi re protection;
- street cleaning;
- fi lling of pools and decorative basins;
- watering public parks, athletic fi elds, and golf courses;
￿ agricultural uses:

- irrigation of fi elds,

- livestock farming and drinking water for animals;