How Much Water Do You Really Use in a Day?
When we think about our daily water usage, we often picture the obvious activities: taking a shower, brushing our teeth, or making a cup of coffee. It sounds reasonable to estimate that we use somewhere around 80 to 100 gallons per day per person. Let’s walk through a typical day and see if that number holds up.
The Reasonable Estimate: 80-100 Gallons a Day
You wake up, pour yourself a glass of water to start the day—about 12 ounces. Then, it’s time for a shower. A quick 10-minute warm shower uses about 25 gallons of water. Later, you brush your teeth. If the tap runs while you brush, that adds another 4 gallons. You make some coffee, using 16 ounces of water, and grab a breakfast sandwich with a bottle of juice before heading out.
By lunchtime, you might be making a sandwich, washing some fruit, or heating up leftovers. There’s also water used to wash hands and clean dishes afterward—let’s estimate that at about 10 gallons. Throughout the afternoon and evening, you might do a load of dishes (6 gallons with a dishwasher), take another quick rinse-off before bed, or fill a glass of water before going to sleep.
Adding it all up, it seems like you could easily stay within the 80-100 gallon range. It sounds responsible and reasonable—but what if we’re forgetting something?
Oh Wait, Didn’t You Forget…
Let’s go back and look at that day again. This time let’s include all the parts of our water usage that we tend to overlook.
Breakfast – That breakfast sandwich you grabbed? Producing that egg took about 53 gallons of water, and the cheese took around 56 gallons. Plus, if you added a bottle of breakfast juice, producing that bottle took about 50 gallons of water. Suddenly, breakfast isn’t just a couple of ounces of water for coffee—it’s over 150 gallons for the food itself.
Lunch – How about lunch? That lettuce for your sandwich required 3 gallons of water to grow, while the wheat for your bread took another 11 gallons. The cheese slice added another 56 gallons. And if you had another bottle of juice, that’s another 50 gallons. Lunch alone brings us up to more than 100 gallons—just for food production.
Dinner – For dinner, maybe you had chicken and rice. Producing that chicken breast took about 468 gallons of water, and each cup of rice took about 95 gallons. And don’t forget about the water used to wash the vegetables, cook the food, and clean the dishes afterward.
Household Chores – Then there are the household chores. Doing a load of laundry? That’s about 20-25 gallons per load. Flushing the toilet throughout the day? Each flush uses 1.6-3.5 gallons, depending on your model. Cleaning surfaces, mopping floors, watering plants, and even refilling the pet’s water bowl all add up.
Workout – Did you work out today? After hitting the treadmill, you probably drank about 16 ounces of water to rehydrate. Maybe you also had a performance drink like a Gatorade—that took about 100 gallons of water to produce. Plus, you took a 10-minute post-workout shower, using another 25 gallons, and washed your workout clothes, which used about 20 gallons.
Total Water Impact So Far
When we add up all these hidden water costs—food production, multiple showers, laundry, household chores, and workout routines—our daily water usage isn’t just the 80-100 gallons we originally estimated. In reality, it’s closer to 1,168-1,183 gallons. This includes the significant water requirements for food production (like the 468 gallons for a chicken breast), household tasks, and personal routines, all of which add up throughout the day. This is the true cost of maintaining our daily routines, once all the seemingly small, but significant, uses are considered.
Oh, By the Way…
And that’s not even counting seasonal outdoor water use. Watering your garden or landscaping during the summer can add hundreds more gallons to your daily total. Whether it’s maintaining a lush lawn, keeping garden plants thriving, or filling a kiddie pool, outdoor water use significantly impacts overall consumption—often without us realizing just how much it adds up.
Other overlooked daily uses of water include cooking (like boiling pasta or steaming vegetables), personal grooming (such as shaving, which can use 1-3 gallons if the tap is left running) and taking care of pets (like washing a pet, which can use 20-40 gallons). These seemingly small uses, when added to the total, further highlight how much we rely on water in every aspect of our daily routines.
And let’s not forget enjoying a drink in the evening. Producing one beer takes about 20 gallons of water, while a glass of wine can require up to 30 gallons. These beverages carry their own hidden water costs, which add to our overall daily impact.
Why This Matters
The difference between the initial estimate and the real total is staggering. We often think of our water usage in terms of what comes out of the tap, but the true cost includes everything behind the scenes—the water needed to produce our food, clean our clothes, and keep our homes running smoothly. Nearly 43% of Massachusetts residents are served by the MWRA’s water infrastructure, and that system supports every single gallon we use, visible and invisible.
Imagining a day without water isn’t just about picturing empty taps. It’s about realizing that almost every part of our daily lives depends on a reliable water supply. That’s why investing in our water infrastructure is so crucial—it’s not just about pipes and treatment plants; it’s about supporting the lives of millions of people, every single day.
