Water Use Information by Topic
Science Center Objects
Water is everywhere, which is fortunate for all of humanity, as water is essential for life. Even though water is not always available in the needed quantity and quality for all people everywhere, people have learned to get and use water for all of their water needs, from drinking, cleaning, irrigating crops, producing electricity, and for just having fun.
Water is essential for all life
Water Use in the United States, 2015
Summaries
- Total Water Use in the United States
- Groundwater Use in the United States
- Surface Water Use in the United States
- Saline Water Use in the United States
- Freshwater Withdrawals in the United States
Water Use by Category
- Aquaculture
- Domestic
- Industrial
- Irrigation
- Livestock
- Mining
- Public Supply
- Thermoelectric Power
- Wastewater Treatment
Historical Trends
Water Use Resources
Water Use Information Topics
Hydroelectric Power
- Hydroelectric Power Water Use
- Hydroelectric Power: How it Works
- Hydroelectric Power: Advantages of Production of Usage
- Three Gorges Dam: The World's Largest Hydroelectric Plant
Wastewater and Sewage Treatment
Informational Pages
- Desalination
- A Million Gallons of Water: How much is it?
- Aqueducts Move Water in the Past and Today
- The Story of Water in Dryville!
Activity Center
- Water Shortage! How Would You Handle This Water Crisis?
- How Much Water Does it Take to Grow a Hamburger?
- How Much Water Do You Use at Home?
- Drip Calculator: How Much Water Does a Dripping Faucet Waste?
Total Water Use in the United States
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...
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Date published: June 18, 2018Status: CompletedSurface Water Use in the United States
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.
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 18, 2018Status: CompletedTrends in Water Use in the United States, 1950 to 2015
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?
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedFreshwater Withdrawals in the United States
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.
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 7, 2018Status: CompletedPublic Supply Water Use
It is likely the water you use at home is brought to you by a public water-supply system. These are agencies, such as your local county government, that find and get the water that is delivered to not only your home, but to many businesses and industries. Most of the population of the United States gets their water this way.
Contacts: Ask USGSAttribution: Water Resources
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Year Published: 2018Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015
Water use in the United States in 2015 was estimated to be about 322 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 9 percent less than in 2010. The 2015 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970, following the same overall trend of decreasing total withdrawals observed from 2005 to 2010. Freshwater withdrawals were 281...
Dieter, Cheryl A.; Maupin, Molly A.; Caldwell, Rodney R.; Harris, Melissa A.; Ivahnenko, Tamara I.; Lovelace, John K.; Barber, Nancy L.; Linsey, Kristin S.Attribution: Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science ProgramView CitationDieter, C.A., Maupin, M.A., Caldwell, R.R., Harris, M.A., Ivahnenko, T.I., Lovelace, J.K., Barber, N.L., and Linsey, K.S., 2018, Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1441, 65 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1441. [Supersedes USGS Open-File Report 2017–1131.]
Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010
Water use in the United States in 2010 was estimated to be about 355 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 13 percent less than in 2005. The 2010 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970. Freshwater withdrawals were 306 Bgal/d, or 86 percent of total withdrawals, and saline-water withdrawals were 48.3 Bgal/d, or...
Maupin, Molly A.; Kenny, Joan F.; Hutson, Susan S.; Lovelace, John K.; Barber, Nancy L.; Linsey, Kristin S.
Trends in total fresh and saline water withdrawals, 1950-2015
As the chart shows, the use of saline water, and freshwater, also, has been trending downward since peaking in 1980. Of interest, from 1950 to 1975 the use of saline water increased at a much higher rate than freshwater use.
Source and use of freshwater in the U.S. in 2015
Source and Use of Freshwater in the United States, 2015
This diagram uses a "cylinder and pipe" layout to show the source (surface water or groundwater) of the Nation's freshwater and for what purposes the water was used in 2015. The data are broken out for each category of use by surface water and groundwater as the source.
Data are rounded and are reported
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Trends in Total Water Withdrawals by Water-Use Category, 1950-2015
Trends in total water withdrawals by water-use category, 1950-2015
Total Categorical Water Withdrawals by State, 2015
Total water withdrawals showing categories by State from west to east, 2015
Trends in Population and Freshwater Withdrawals by Source, 1950-2015
Trends in population and freshwater withdrawals by source, 1950-2015.