City Services
Public Works & Utility Department
Utilities Division
Water Treatment Facts
Facts about Water
The same amount of water is on the Earth
today as there was 3 billion years ago.
Three percent of the Earth's water is
fresh water and only 1% is available for human consumption.
- A human being is 66% water.
- The human brain is 75% water.
- A tree is 75% water.
- You could survive about a month without
food, but only five to seven days without water.
- On the average, each American uses 90-160
gallons of water a day at a cost of 27 cents.
- Bottled water may cost up to 1,000 times
more than municipal water.
- Two-thirds of the water used on an average
home is used in the bathroom.
- Typically 3 to 5 gallons of water are
used for every toilet flush.
- On the average, people use 2 gallons
of water to brush their teeth each day.
- A ten-minute shower uses about 55 gallons
of water.
- A leaking faucet can waste up to 100
gallons a day.
- There are about 60,000 community water
supplies in America.
- Public water supplies must meet or exceed
Environmental Protection Agency standards.
- The Amendment to the Safe Drinking Water
Act in 1986 increased the number of contaminants to be
regulated from 26 to 83 and expanded EPA's enforcement
authority.
- If a drinking water supplier violates
any federal standard, the utility by law must tell the
customer.
- Current water treatment methods make
drinking water clear and disinfect it.
- It takes about 39,000 gallons of water
to produce the average auto, including tires.
- It is not safe for hikers and backpackers
to drink water directly from remote streams.
- One gallon of gasoline can contaminate
approximately 750,000 gallons of water.
- An acre of corn contributes more to humidity
than a lake of the same size.
- Typically 3 to 5 gallons of water is used to flush a toilet.
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