As San Diego grapples with providing sufficient supplies of this precious commodity,  consider the following facts.   Are we really treating this resource with the kind of respect and value that it deserves?

• The average toilet uses 5 to 7 gallons of water per flush.
• A shower can use 25 to 50 gallons (5 gallons per minute)
• Just washing your hands can use up to 3 gallons of water (with tap running at 3 gallons per minute)
• Leaving the water running while you brush your teeth can waste 3 gallons of water (at 3 gallons per minute).
• Outdoor spigots can pump out 5 to 10 gallons per minute.
• Automatic dishwashers use about 15 gallons per load.
• Washing one load of clothes in an automatic washer uses about 45 gallons.
• The average bath takes about 36 gallons of water.
• The average individual uses about 125 gallons of water per day.
• An average residence uses 107,000 gallons of water per year.
• About 340 billion gallons of water are used every day in the
  United States
  . This total includes water used in irrigation, in industry, and in fire fighting and street cleaning.
• It takes about 1 gallon of water to process a quarter pound of hamburger.
• It takes 1,500 gallons of water to process 1 barrel of beer.
• It takes 39,000 gallons of water to manufacture a new car, including tires.
• It takes about 800,000 gallons of water to grow an acre of cotton.
• Ten gallons of water are needed to refine one gallon of gasoline.
• Cutting one minute off your shower time can save about 700 gallons of water per month.
• A faucet that drips 60 times in one minute would waste over 3 gallons a day, 1,225 gallons per year.
• Humans require about 2 1/2 quarts of water a day.
• A human can live more than a month without food but only as much as one week without water.

 Facts from http://www.h2o4u.org/facts.html