Here are some facts about water consumption for perspective:
- According the the EPA, the average American uses about 100 gallons, or 378 liters, of water a day.
- This figure is about 2.5 times higher than used in England, and 3.5 times higher than Germany, two other industrialized nations.
- 99% of Americans have access to hot and cold piped water, showers, and flush toilets.1
- In comparison, a 2009 report by the UNDP, UNICEF, and the Mongolian Government states that only 22% of Mongolians have access to piped water. Add in improved wells and tankers and only 39.2% of the population has access to improved water, about 20% lower than the world average.
- Mongolians who live in cities with piped water use about 285 liters a day, a figure not far from figures seen in Europe.
- On the other hand, Mongolians who live in the countryside use less than 7 liters a day.
- As a household, we use about 160 liters a week, or a little over 10 liters per person a day. This figure is above the average for Mongolians (we’re still Americans!) in the countryside but 28 times less than used by Mongolians in the city, and almost 40 times less than the average American (in America).
- 100% of our water is brought to our ger in a canister on a cart by Brian, or a neighbor. Brian hand pumps all our drinking water to remove heavy metals and such but we are the only ones in town who do.
- Lastly, we shower in the public bath house on the other side of town once a week and share an outside pit toilet with 7 people.
So the next time you grumble about cleaning the bathroom, put off doing laundry in your washing machine, or think that taking a shower is a hassle, take a moment to be thankful that you have all those options and that your water is not going to make you sick.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_United_States