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U.S. Uses Less Water Now Than 35 Years Ago

motherjones.com — The decline, according to the study, is attributable to alternative cooling methods at power plants and to more efficient irrigation systems.

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  • ddawggin, on 11/05/2009, -0/+14Yeah, it's a good thing soda doesn't contain any water in it and doesn't use any water in its manufacturing...
  • zoomaKabu, on 11/05/2009, -0/+7There is no shortage of water in the Eastern US. What are you "saving" it for. It's eventually going into the Gulf of Mexico or the atmosphere whether you "use" it or not. Especially water used for cooling power plants. It isn't "used" at all, just heated and returned to the source.
  • inactive, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6People should put urinals in their homes. They could save like 20 gallons of water per male per day.
  • Rfriaz, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5I came to this submission expecting a snarky blog entry about how we import the water we used to drink from France now.

    I was wrong. I think.
  • getsome2k, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Those stats are pretty cool, i never would have guessed we use less water now.
  • avengingturnip, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Funny. Even when I lived in the desert there were days that it fell from the sky...in veritable deluges. Ocean water is not potable without desalination but water itself is among the least limited of resources. Good thing too since without the abundance of it life would not be teeming over so much of the solid surface as it is.
  • avengingturnip, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Three quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water. It literally falls from the sky many days of the year.
  • heliumflash, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4It's good to hear every once in a while that we're improving :)
  • DextramPennae, on 11/05/2009, -1/+5Water is not a limited resource. It is totally recyclable. Remember from grade school something called the water cycle?
  • Dustmuffins, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Jesus H Christ you're stupid.
  • c0mputar, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3I highly doubt there are 420000 billion gallons of water being traded every day. In addition, 1.4 gallons per person per day is also too low.
  • betona, on 11/05/2009, -2/+5I still miss 5 gallon toilets that took only one flush and the good old shower heads that would blast you in the shower.
  • Frayed_Knot, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3Water does not grow on trees.
  • JanTik, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Here's where they guy got his data: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2009/3098/pdf/2009-3098.pd ...

    Anyway, I was quite shocked to hear that we use almost half of it for cooling thermoelectric power plants. But that also is good news, because even a small increase in efficiency here will free up significant quantities of water.
  • volcompimp, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2You could save even more if you just piss outside.
  • trolleyfan, on 11/06/2009, -1/+3No, but it doesn't get used as planned...and the mud it makes deep beneath our streets doesn't help anything...so it means they have to send *more* water to make up for the losses.
  • trolleyfan, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2No, but it transpires from them...
  • digggggggggg, on 11/05/2009, -3/+5If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

    There, problem solved without having to install a damn urinal in my already cramped bathroom.
  • gkiltz, on 11/05/2009, -1/+3If we would upgrade some of our big-city systems, we could cut use A LOT more!
    Many of the pipes in use are a century old or close to it, and leak like a sieve.
    Just replacing as much of that old pipe as possible would cut use significantly.
  • digitalArtform, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2I used the example of water on a boat to make the larger point the RESOURCES are limited on the planet.
  • Frayed_Knot, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2This paragraph was fixed. It now says:
    "In 2005, 297 million Americans used 410 billion gallons of water per day. That's 5 percent less than in 1980, the year of peak water use, when there were 227 million Americans. Or ~1,400 gallons of water per day per American in 2005, compared with ~2,000 gallons per person per day in 1980. Not bad. And a reminder that trends can be managed, not just suffered."
  • digitalArtform, on 11/05/2009, -1/+2Where it becomes salty as it flows to the sea, and is desalinated at such great expense that desalination is done only when absolutely necessary.

    Never mind the pollution.

    Never mind that water does NOT 'fall from the sky' very much at all in the ever increasing desert regions of the planet. 1/3 of all land is desert. Not everyone lives in the Pacific Northwest, believe it or not.
  • Nacon, on 11/05/2009, -1/+2"hey could save like 20 gallons of water per male per day."

    FTA "Or 1.4 billion gallons of water per day per American in 2005"

    20 gallons saved, 1399999980 stil used tho ;-).
  • c0mputar, on 11/05/2009, -2/+3"In 2005, 297 million Americans used 410 billion gallons of water per day. That's 5 percent less than in 1980, the year of peak water use, when there were 227 million Americans. Or 1.4 billion gallons of water per day per American in 2005, compared with ~2 billion gallons per person per day in 1980. Not bad. And a reminder that trends can be managed, not just suffered."

    I don't trust this article for a second, because someone who doesn't understand basic math can't be trusted to come up with a conclusion. Anyone want to try and figure out what this paragraph, a third of the article, is suppose to say? :P I'm too lazy.
  • betona, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1I always wanted one of those urinals that goes all the way down to the ground. Strangely, my wife is absolutely uninterested in having one.
  • digitalArtform, on 11/05/2009, -4/+5Sailors in the Navy turn off the shower to soap. Resources are limited on a boat.

    Somehow the concept that resources are limited on a planet escapes a lot of people.
  • expert01, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1Aaaand..... the joke goes whoosh!!!
  • DextramPennae, on 11/06/2009, -1/+1Well, DAF, you are wrong.
  • ScaryUK, on 11/05/2009, -2/+2Your water efficient toilets are a good thing, they should bring in something similar here
  • gizram84, on 11/05/2009, -4/+4It's all Bush's fault!

    Oh wait, this is a good thing... ummmm.... It's because we elected change and hope.. Thank You Barack Obama for helping reduce the US consumption of water. This is the real change I voted for!!!!!
  • mousky, on 11/05/2009, -1/+1Do you think that leaky water just disappears?
  • expert01, on 11/05/2009, -2/+1It's saying that every day in 2005, for every person there was 1.4 billion gallons of water being traded. Blame the water market, almost all of that water was just being bought to be resold on the market later.
  • inactive, on 11/05/2009, -4/+3you must get ALL the ladies with your piss filled toilets!

    Oh wait...you are from Berkley....let me fix that....You must get ALL the fellas...
  • BrokenCircle, on 11/05/2009, -3/+2That is because all of the smelly immigrants and people who play WOW neglect to shower.
  • inactive, on 11/05/2009, -3/+2Nothing wrong with it. Maybe we really do use about 1.4 billion gallons of water per day. We Americans like LONNNNNG showers.

    You gotta remember...Mr. Al "Do As I Say Not As I Do" Gore probably ups that average quite a bit.
  • QQQQUUUU, on 11/05/2009, -7/+0too much soda, etc

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