Chapter V 



OUR INCREASING 

 REQUIREMENTS FOR WATER 



All statistics indicate a prodigious increase in the use of 

 water in the United States in the past half century, and par- 

 ticularly in the last 20 years. But a word of caution is neces- 

 sary: no comprehensive national survey of water use has ever 

 been made, and the statistics are based on very meager infor- 

 mation. The most reliable data available for the nation per- 

 tain to public supplies and were obtained in independent 

 inventories by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Ameri- 

 can Water Works Association in 1945. 1 



According to data from 15,370 communities, the average 

 per capita use ranged from 60 gallons per day in communities 

 of less than 500 population to 140 gallons per day in cities of 

 more than 10,000, with national municipal use about 127 

 gallons per day per capita. At this rate the nation is now us- 

 ing about 12 to 14 billion gallons a day for municipal supplies. 

 The rural domestic use of water is estimated to be 3 to 5 bil- 

 lion gallons a day additional. According to recent estimates of 

 the National Resources Security Board, the Geological Sur- 

 vey, and others, the nation also uses 75 to 100 billion gallons 

 of water a day for irrigation, 35 billion for generation of steam- 

 electric power, 35 to 45 billion gallons a day for other indus- 

 trial purposes. The total for domestic, municipal, industrial, 

 and agricultural use of water thus becomes of the order of 160 

 to 200 billion gallons per day, which is roughly 12 to 15 per 

 cent of the total flow of streams to the ocean. 



i Langbein, W. B., Municipal Water Use in the United States, Am. Water 

 Works Assoc. Jour., vol. 41, pp. 997-1001, 1949. 



213 



