Water Needs and Their Evolution - Hydrogeology: Objectives, Methods, Applications - page 174

Table 15 Examples of Units of Consumption.

Use Consumption in L

watering a garden from 100 to 1,000 per household

toilet fl ush 6 to 12

bath 150 to 200

shower 40 to 80

car wash 200

washing machine 70 to 100 per wash

dishwasher 25 to 60 per wash

Table 16 Distribution of Uses.

house cleaning and watering 8 %

drinking and cooking 4%

dishes 7%

hygiene 32%

toilet fl ush 36 %

washing machine 13%

Table 17 Comparison of Domestic Consumption in L per Day per Person (Sources: Eurostat,
2001; IFEN, 2002).

Canada 326 United States 295

Japan 278 Australia 268

Switzerland 252 Finland 213

Italy 213 Spain 200

Portugal 194 Greece 175

Sweden 164 United Kingdom 153

France 137 Germany 129

Belgium 112 Poland 98

consumption reaches approximately 100 L per day per person in Paris.
Although some cities have a parallel pipe network for untreated water, in
most cases, street cleaning and the watering of gardens use treated drinking
water. These needs are diffi cult to reduce, and as cities continue to increase
in size, this portion of water use will increase in the future.

2.3 Agriculture

Agricultural uses make up the largest portion of the global water
consumption. The production of 1 kg of fl our requires 500 L of water.