Idaho had one of the largest per capita uses of the public water supply in the United States, totaling 184 gallons per day, followed by Utah with 169 gallons and Wyoming at 156 gallons. The public supply of water refers to water that is withdrawn by both public and private suppliers and is delivered to domestic, commercial, thermoelectric, irrigation, and industrial users. Overall, the most populous states tend to be the largest consumers of water. Sources of public supply water can include desalinated seawater and treated brackish groundwater. California and Texas withdrew 5.15 billion gallons and 2.89 billion gallons per day, respectively, for public supply in 2015. Almost 90 percent of the U.S. population relies on public water supplies.

U.S. Water Consumption Water withdrawal in the United States has increased over the last decades, reaching 322 billion gallons per day in 2015. The U.S. is one of the largest per capita consumers water in the world, in addition to being one of the largest absolute consumers of water. The average U.S. family uses some 400 gallons of water per day. However, a large share of water is lost or wasted through leaky pipes or just evaporation and over-watering landscapes. Minor changes such as fixing a leaky faucet, using a dishwasher, upgrading to a water-efficient toilet, or taking showers instead of baths can help save conserve water.

Water withdrawals per capita in Turkmenistan amount to 2,740 cubic meters per inhabitant, according to the latest available data from 2021. This is a far higher volume than in many other countries, such as China, where per capita water withdrawals were 398.7 cubic meters as of 2021. Global water withdrawals Countries around the world withdraw huge volumes of water each year from sources such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater. China has some of the largest annual total water withdrawals across the globe, at 581.3 billion cubic meters per year. In comparison, Mexico withdrew almost 90 billion cubic meters of water in 2021. Water scarcity Although roughly 70 percent of Earth's surface is covered with water, less than one percent of the planet's total water resources can be classified as accessible freshwater resources. Growing populations, increased demand, and climate change are increasingly putting pressure on these precious resources. This is expected to lead to global water shortages around the world. In the United States, the megadrought in the west has seen water levels of major reservoirs that provide water to millions of people plummet to record lows. In order to prevent severe droughts in water-stressed areas today and in the future, a more efficient use of water is essential.

China Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential data was reported at 188.799 l in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 184.732 l for 2022. China Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential data is updated yearly, averaging 178.638 l from Dec 1978 (Median) to 2023, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 220.240 l in 2000 and a record low of 120.600 l in 1978. China Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCA: Water Consumption: Daily per Capita: Residential.

Water use per capita measures the amount of water used per person in Champaign County, categorized by public water supply withdrawals and domestic self-supplied withdrawals.

Public water supply withdrawals include the residential water use of households connected to a public supply, but also include withdrawals for industrial, commercial, and power generation uses[1]. Thus, this figure cannot be extrapolated into residential household water use. Domestic self-supplied withdrawals are residential or household withdrawals of households that are not connected to a public water supply, but instead draw water from a private supply, like a well[2].

Both public water supply withdrawals per capita and domestic self-supplied withdrawals per capita decreased between 2005 and 2015, but their trends before 2005 were notably dissimilar. Domestic self-supplied withdrawals increased in the early 1990’s, then held steady until 2005, while public water supply withdrawals decreased between 1990 and 1995, then increased between 2000 and 2005.

The public supply withdrawals per capita were consistently higher than the domestic self-supplied withdrawals per capita throughout the period of analysis: as noted above, the category of public supply withdrawals per capita includes more types of water use, and some that tend to be users of larger quantities of water, than the domestic self-supplied withdrawals category.

Although East Central Illinois is a relatively water-rich region, water use, quality, and management remain topics of interest for a future that may hold increases or decreases in the amount of precipitation that can be expected, and the timing and intensity of that precipitation.

This data is sourced from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System’s Web Interface. The data is released every five years.

[1] USGS. (2016). Water Use Terminology.

[2] Ibid.

Source: USGS. (2016). National Water Information System: Web Interface. (Accessed 2 May 2019).

In 2021, 22.5 cubic meters of water was consumed per person. This was a decrease in the volume of water consumption compared to the financial year 2020. In the past decade, the volume of monthly water consumption per capita in Thailand was unsteady.

Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Guangdong: Shenzhen data was reported at 40.610 Cub m in 2009. This records a decrease from the previous number of 43.810 Cub m for 2008. Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Guangdong: Shenzhen data is updated yearly, averaging 88.500 Cub m from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2009, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 179.900 Cub m in 1998 and a record low of 40.610 Cub m in 2009. Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Guangdong: Shenzhen data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCD: Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Prefecture Level City.

Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Anhui: Suzhou data was reported at 43.140 Cub m in 2009. This records a decrease from the previous number of 48.530 Cub m for 2008. Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Anhui: Suzhou data is updated yearly, averaging 51.315 Cub m from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2009, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 59.920 Cub m in 2001 and a record low of 29.670 Cub m in 2005. Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Anhui: Suzhou data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Su zhou Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCD: Water Consumption: per Capita: Residential: Prefecture Level City.

Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Beijing data was reported at 167.264 l in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 163.221 l for 2022. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Beijing data is updated yearly, averaging 187.520 l from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2023, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 281.840 l in 1998 and a record low of 152.910 l in 2005. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Beijing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCA: Water Consumption: Daily per Capita: Residential.

This statistic displays an estimation of the average per capita household water use in the United States in 2014 with a breakdown by select city. As of this time, single-family households used approximately 61 gallons of water per capita per day.

Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Hunan data was reported at 223.470 l in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 217.073 l for 2022. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Hunan data is updated yearly, averaging 226.465 l from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2023, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 339.000 l in 2001 and a record low of 180.250 l in 2017. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Hunan data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCA: Water Consumption: Daily per Capita: Residential.

In 2020, per capita water consumption in China amounted to 411.9 cubic meters.

Water usage in China 

Over the last two decades, water consumption in China had revealed a general increasing trend, however this has stagnated over the last decade. Despite the constant growth in population, national water consumption in China in recent years has decreased from levels seen in 2013. When considering the provincial level, the leading regions in terms of highest water consumption per capita were mostly more rural remote areas such as Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia. Despite a general decline of water consumption nationwide, Xinjiang was the province in China with the highest water consumption per capita. In 2020, the figure for Xinjiang was over 2,216 cubic meters per capita, more than double than that of Heilongjiang, the second place holder.

Chinese consumption in the world 

 In terms of water consumption per capita, China has a similar level of consumption as Russia, France and Belgium. On the other hand, Estonia and the United States had a per capita water consumption nearly three times higher than that of China.

Global Freshwater Abstractions for Public Water Supply Per Capita by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Jiangsu data was reported at 213.550 l in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 211.538 l for 2022. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Jiangsu data is updated yearly, averaging 215.415 l from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2023, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 285.260 l in 1996 and a record low of 199.542 l in 2007. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Jiangsu data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCA: Water Consumption: Daily per Capita: Residential.

Per capita water resources of Qinghai sank by 17.05% from 17,107.4 cubic meter/person in 2020 to 14,190.4 cubic meter/person in 2021. Since the 21.45% jump in 2018, per capita water resources slumped by 11.41% in 2021.

In 2010, 187 liters of packaged water were consumed per person in Italy. By 2023, consumption of bottled water in the country increased to 248 liters per person.

Per capita water resources of Shaanxi rocketed by 102.91% from 1,062.4 cubic meter/person in 2020 to 2,155.8 cubic meter/person in 2021. Since the 17.85% slump in 2018, per capita water resources shot up by 123.44% in 2021.

The sustainability of water resources in future decades is likely to be affected by increases in water demand due to population growth, increases in power generation, and climate change. This study presents water withdrawal projections in the United States (U.S.) in 2050 as a result of projected population increases and power generation at the county level as well as the availability of local renewable water supplies. The growth scenario assumes the per capita water use rate for municipal withdrawals to remain at 2005 levels and the water use rates for new thermoelectric plants at levels in modern closed-loop cooling systems. In projecting renewable water supply in future years, median projected monthly precipitation and temperature by sixteen climate models were used to derive available precipitation in 2050 (averaged over 2040–2059). Withdrawals and available precipitation were compared to identify regions that use a large fraction of their renewable local water supply. A water supply sustainability risk index that takes into account additional attributes such as susceptibility to drought, growth in water withdrawal, increased need for storage, and groundwater use was developed to evaluate areas at greater risk. Based on the ranking by the index, high risk areas can be assessed in more mechanistic detail in future work.

Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Guangdong data was reported at 247.092 l in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 241.529 l for 2022. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Guangdong data is updated yearly, averaging 252.585 l from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2023, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 379.460 l in 2000 and a record low of 236.782 l in 2020. Water Consumption: City: Daily per Capita: Residential: Guangdong data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Utility Sector – Table CN.RCA: Water Consumption: Daily per Capita: Residential.

In 2023, per capita consumption of bottled water amounted to roughly 46.4 gallons in the United States. Bottled water includes drinking water sold in plastic as well as glass bottles. The amount of bottled carbonated and still water that the average American consumes has increased significantly over the past two decades. Leading bottled water brands When compared to brands, private label bottled still water in the United States accounted for the highest sales numbers in 2023, namely just over 5.3 billion U.S. dollars. The top still water brands that year were Aquafina and Glacéau Smartwater, which both made approximately one billion U.S. dollar sales. Sparkling Ice accounted for the highest sales numbers in the sparkling/mineral water category that year. Ahead of private label, La Croix and Bubly. Affordability of tap water In the United States, according to a survey conducted in May 2024, just over 30 percent of respondents strongly agreed that tap water is affordable. By comparison, only seven percent strongly disagreed with this statement.

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides derivative statistics of water used by Kansas public-supply systems in 2014. Gallons per capita per day is calculated using self-reported information in the “Part B: Monthly Water Use Summary” and “Part C: Population, Service Connections, and Water Rates” sections of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources' (DWR) annual municipal water use report (see appendixes at http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds964 for an example of a municipal water use report form.) Percent unaccounted for water is calculated using self-reported information in “Part B: Monthly Water Use Summary” of the DWR’s municipal water-use report. The published statistics from the previous 4 years (2010–2013) are also shown with the 2014 statistics and are used to calculate a 5-year average. Derivative statistics of 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 5-year averages for gallons per capita per day (gpcd) are also provided by the Kansas Water Authority's 14 regional planning areas, and the DWR regions used for analysis of per capita water use in Kansas. An overall Kansas average (yearly and 5-year average) is also calculated. Kansas state average per captia use in 2014 was 108 gpcd.