How much water do you actually use?
Direct household use is the small part. The water embedded in what you eat is roughly thirty times larger.
Almost exactly UK average per person per day
145 L is bigger than 5 of the 9 references on this page.
Reference figures are measurements and are rounded; the unit conversion behind them is exact.
| Reference | Size | Yours ÷ theirs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| toilet flush | 6 L | 24.2× | |
| dishwasher cycle | 12 L | 12.1× | |
| washing machine cycle | 50 L | 2.9× | |
| shower, 8 minutes | 80 L | 1.81× | |
| UK average per person per day | 142 L | 1.02× | |
| bath | 150 L | 0.967× | |
| US average per person per day | 310 L | 0.468× | |
| water in one beef burger | 2,350 L | 1/16.2 | Including feed and processing |
| water behind a day of food | 3,000 L | 1/20.7 |
Worth knowing
- A single beef burger carries about 2 350 litres of embedded water — sixteen days of a UK household’s direct use.
- UK direct household use averages 142 litres per person per day; the US figure is more than twice that.
Frequently asked
How much water does a shower use?
A standard mixer shower runs 9–12 litres a minute, an electric shower 6–8 and a power shower up to 15. Eight minutes at 10 litres a minute is 80 litres.
What is a water footprint?
The total freshwater used to produce what you consume, including agriculture. It is roughly thirty times direct household use, which is why diet dominates it.