{"id":576,"date":"2018-06-28T08:30:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T15:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/?p=576"},"modified":"2018-06-28T08:30:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T15:30:26","slug":"americans-are-conserving-water-like-never-before-according-to-the-latest-federal-data-the-washington-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/2018\/06\/28\/americans-are-conserving-water-like-never-before-according-to-the-latest-federal-data-the-washington-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans are conserving water like never before, according to the latest federal data – The Washington Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2018\/06\/25\/americans-are-conserving-water-like-never-before-according-to-the-latest-federal-data\/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9a46ee30aa0c<\/a><\/p>\n

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Americans are conserving water like never before, according to the latest federal data<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Americans are conserving water in their homes like never before, according to\u00a0a\u00a0U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report released this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In per capita terms, domestic water use has plummeted from 112 gallons per day in 1980 to just 82 gallons in 2015, a 27 percent decrease. Take 30 gallon-sized milk jugs, fill them up with water and set them aside \u2014 that’s how much water you’re saving, every day, relative to the average American in 1980.\u00a0For a typical family of four that means about a half-ton of water saved, or eight cubic feet, every single day relative to 1980.<\/p>\n

For the purposes of the USGS data, domestic water use encompasses everything we do with water at home. \u201cCommon indoor water uses are drinking, food preparation, washing clothes and dishes, bathing, and flushing toilets,\u201d the report explains. \u201cCommon outdoor uses are watering lawns and gardens or maintaining pools, ponds, or other landscape features in a domestic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n

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The report credits a number of federal policy interventions with reducing home water use. The\u00a0National Energy Policy Act of 1992<\/a>\u00a0is a big one. It\u00a0established efficiency standards<\/a>\u00a0for toilets (the now ubiquitous 1.6 gallons per flush), bathroom faucets (2.2 gallons per minute at 60 psi) and shower heads (2.5 gallons per minute at 80 psi). The legislation\u00a0passed with overwhelming bipartisan support<\/a>\u00a0and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. Further amendments to the bill, passed in 2005,\u00a0improved efficiencies\u00a0for water-using appliances,\u00a0such as dishwashers and washing machines.<\/p>\n

The EPA estimates that 70 percent of our total home water consumption happens indoors,\u00a0with the remainder going to outdoor uses<\/a>. But these numbers vary considerably by region, with households in arid Western states\u00a0devoting 50 percent or more of their annual water budget<\/a>\u00a0to maintaining lawns and landscaping. As a result, per capita domestic water use varies greatly at the state level, ranging from 35 gallons per day in Connecticut to 184 gallons in Idaho.<\/p>\n

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It’s worth pointing out that domestic water use accounts for just a tiny fraction of overall American water consumption, on the order of about 1 percent.\u00a0Thermoelectric power<\/a>\u00a0(e.g., steam-driven electric turbines) accounts for 41 percent of all water use, while irrigation for crops eats up another 37 percent.<\/p>\n

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As part of its report, the\u00a0USGS published this nifty map,\u00a0breaking down the different water use categories at the county level.<\/p>\n


\nUSGS<\/span><\/div>\n
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While our average per capita home water use is<\/p>\n

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de<\/p>\n

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clining, it remains\u00a0much higher than in other wealthy nations<\/a>, including the United Kingdom\u00a0(37 gallons per day) and Germany (32 gallons). Part of the issue is that water in the United States remains\u00a0very cheap relative to other countries<\/a>, which has led some economists to call for\u00a0smarter, more flexible pricing schemes<\/a>\u00a0in America’s water markets.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n

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While higher prices may hurt in the short term, there’s good reason to take a long view on the issue. A\u00a02014 Government Accountability Office<\/a>\u00a0report found, for instance, that water managers in 25 states expected to\u00a0deal with regional or statewide water shortages over the coming decade, along the lines of what much of California\u00a0experienced during its recent drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The era of cheap water, in other words,\u00a0may be coming to an end<\/a>, whether we plan for it or not.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2018\/06\/25\/americans-are-conserving-water-like-never-before-according-to-the-latest-federal-data\/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9a46ee30aa0c Americans are conserving water like never before, according to the latest federal data Americans are conserving water in their homes like never before, according to\u00a0a\u00a0U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report released this month. In per capita terms, domestic water use has plummeted from 112 gallons per day in 1980 to just 82 gallons in 2015, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-false-water-agendas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577,"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions\/577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stopthecrime.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}