How We Use Water

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers you the most comprehensive information about the natural water cycle anywhere, and, our information is available in many languages. Here you can download our water cycle diagrams as well as other educational products to assist you in the classroom or on your own learning adventure!

Wastewater is used water. It includes substances such as human waste, food scraps, oils, soaps and chemicals. In homes, this includes water from sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers. Businesses and industries also contribute their share of used water that must be cleaned.

The Nation's surface-water resources—the water in the nation's rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, and reservoirs—are vitally important to our everyday life.

Much of the electricity used in the United States and worldwide comes from thermoelectric power plants. This type of production includes fuels such as coal, oil, gas-fired, nuclear, and other lesser-used methods, such as geothermal and burning waste material. Production of electrical power results in one of the largest uses of water in the United States and worldwide. Water for thermoelectric...

How has America's water use changed over the last 65 years? Are we using more or less water, and are there trends for different kinds of water use?

It's a good thing farmers don't need to haul buckets of water to keep crops watered. Nearly as old as the bucket method though, is furrow or flood surface irrigation where farmers flow water down small trenches running through their crops. For more information about irrigation read on.

Do you wear contact lenses? If so, you most likely use a saline water solution to clean them. But what else do we use saline water for and do we really use that much? Read on to learn all about the use of saline water.

The water in the Nation's rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and underground aquifers are vitally important to our everyday life. These water bodies supply the water to serve the needs of every human and for the world's ecological systems, too. Here in the United States, every 5 years the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiles county, state, and National water withdrawal and use data for a number of water...

Much of the electricity produced in the United States and the world comes from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal. Read on to understand how the process works.

Hydropower, or hydroenergy, is a form of renewable energy that uses the water stored in dams, as well as flowing in rivers to create electricity in hydropower plants. The falling water rotates blades of a turbine, which then spins a generator that converts the mechanical energy of the spinning turbine into electrical energy. Hydroelectric power is a significant component of electricity production...

The freshwater in the Nation's rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, reservoirs, and in underground aquifers are vitally important to our everyday life, and, indeed, to all life on Earth.

If you look at our U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) water-use data , you see it is presented in "million gallons per day" (Mgal/d). We will help you visualize how much a millions gallon is so you can better understand our water-use information.