<p>Dams are hydroelectric, thermoelectric is something else. </p>

<p>Thermoelectric refers to water extracted to boil to power a generator or used to cool the fluid used in said generator, In the US mostly coal, gas, and fuel oil plants but other ones like geothermal, nuclear, and mass solar also count, basically if it works off heat it consumes water (thermo- literally means heat). Much of this water of course evaporates. And yes it is quite high. About the same as we extract for irrigation. </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/F2wel.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/F2wel.png" alt="enter image description here"></a> <a href="https://water.usgs.gov/watuse/wuto.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://water.usgs.gov/watuse/wuto.html</a></p>

<p>Public water (purple), can be further divided, the <a href="https://water.usgs.gov/watuse/wups.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">USGS</a> estimates public use as follows. You'll note no differentiation is made between commercial and industrial. </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ceWuu.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ceWuu.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Wikipedia actually has a decent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonresidential_water_use_in_the_U.S." rel="nofollow noreferrer">entry</a> with further EPA estimate breakdowns, if you want to dive further. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-01T21:08:51.190Z
Note that there are huge regional variations. In California, the majority (~60%) of the water withdrawn is used for irrigation purposes, per [USGS statistics](https://ca.water.usgs.gov/water_use/2010-california-water-use.html). Note that this data is from 2010 and California has since seen [long-term reduction in urban water usage](https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/docs/2019feb/fs020519.pdf) in response to a multi-year drought, which presumably has somewhat increased the percentage of withdrawals used for agriculture.
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-01T21:10:38.730Z
I saw this diagram. It does not answer the question because "public supply" includes both residential and commercial use.
Tyler Durden
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-01T21:18:07.907Z
@TylerDurden For *California* [this 2014 article](https://www.kcet.org/commentary/drought-by-the-numbers-where-does-california-water-go) states: "About 6 percent of the state's water is consumed by industries, commercial operations, and governments. About 14 percent is poured into bathtubs, toilets, and washing machines or sprayed over residential lawns."
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-02T13:45:57.357Z
@TylerDurden the chart is split up the way it is because some places (mostly small towns) with "city water" AKA public water don't differentiate industrial vs residential consumption. fewer still differentiate commercial vs industrial.
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-02T19:54:00.677Z
You could include a [cooling tower image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clouds,_natural_and_otherwise_-_geograph.org.uk_-_778331.jpg) .
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-01T20:29:19.323Z
2019-03-02T13:48:57.803Z
2019-03-02T13:48:57.803Z
John
<p>I have read different statistics on residential water use. One EPA chart I saw had residential use of water taking up half of all water, which seems unbelievable to me. Another writer claimed that only 1% of water is used by residential consumers. Quite a big difference.</p>

<p>One statistic I saw said that 45% of water "withdrawals" was for thermoelectric power, but presumably water can still be used by other consumers after it has gone through a dam power plant.</p>

<p>If we split water use between (1) residential consumption, (2) agricultural irrigation, (3) industrial consumption, and (4) commercial business consumption, there would seem to be four basic types of consumers. What is the relative balance of water consumption between these four types?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-01T23:27:56.860Z
Worth noting that a significant amount of surface water is reused in some areas; water used by agriculture upstream on the Colorado River, for example, gets discharged into the river and then withdrawn downstream, getting 3 to 4 times saltier as it goes: https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/education/classes/files/content/page/6%20Morford-Colorado_Basin_Salinity.pdf Some that winds up getting filtered out of my drinking water here in San Diego.
jeffronicus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-02T19:29:29.413Z
I think there are a couple of real definitional problems here.  What is mean by "all water": what goes through treatment plants, rain that falls on fields and forests, rivers that flow into the ocean, or the oceans themselves?  And what is meant by "used"?  Just human uses?  Rain falling on fields & forests is used by plants, some of which may be used by humans.  If you're an urbanite, the water from your tap goes to a treatment plan t& back to a river, so that a raindrop falling on the headwaters of the Mississippi might be re-used dozens of times before reaching the Gulf.
jamesqf
<water><united-states>
How much water gets consumed by residential use versus all other uses?
Tyler Durden
# How much water gets consumed by residential use versus all other uses?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-01)

I have read different statistics on residential water use. One EPA chart I saw had residential use of water taking up half of all water, which seems unbelievable to me. Another writer claimed that only 1% of water is used by residential consumers. Quite a big difference.

One statistic I saw said that 45% of water "withdrawals" was for thermoelectric power, but presumably water can still be used by other consumers after it has gone through a dam power plant.

If we split water use between (1) residential consumption, (2) agricultural irrigation, (3) industrial consumption, and (4) commercial business consumption, there would seem to be four basic types of consumers. What is the relative balance of water consumption between these four types?

**Tags:** water, united-states

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Worth noting that a significant amount of surface water is reused in some areas; water used by agriculture upstream on the Colorado River, for example, gets discharged into the river and then withdrawn downstream, getting 3 to 4 times saltier as it goes: https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/education/classes/files/content/page/6%20Morford-Colorado_Basin_Salinity.pdf Some that winds up getting filtered out of my drinking water here in San Diego.  
> **username_2**: I think there are a couple of real definitional problems here.  What is mean by "all water": what goes through treatment plants, rain that falls on fields and forests, rivers that flow into the ocean, or the oceans themselves?  And what is meant by "used"?  Just human uses?  Rain falling on fields & forests is used by plants, some of which may be used by humans.  If you're an urbanite, the water from your tap goes to a treatment plan t& back to a river, so that a raindrop falling on the headwaters of the Mississippi might be re-used dozens of times before reaching the Gulf.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-03-01. Score: 2

Dams are hydroelectric, thermoelectric is something else.

Thermoelectric refers to water extracted to boil to power a generator or used to cool the fluid used in said generator, In the US mostly coal, gas, and fuel oil plants but other ones like geothermal, nuclear, and mass solar also count, basically if it works off heat it consumes water (thermo- literally means heat). Much of this water of course evaporates. And yes it is quite high. About the same as we extract for irrigation.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/F2wel.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/F2wel.png) <https://water.usgs.gov/watuse/wuto.html>

Public water (purple), can be further divided, the [USGS](https://water.usgs.gov/watuse/wups.html) estimates public use as follows. You'll note no differentiation is made between commercial and industrial.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ceWuu.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ceWuu.png)

Wikipedia actually has a decent [entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonresidential_water_use_in_the_U.S.) with further EPA estimate breakdowns, if you want to dive further.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Note that there are huge regional variations. In California, the majority (~60%) of the water withdrawn is used for irrigation purposes, per [USGS statistics](https://ca.water.usgs.gov/water_use/2010-california-water-use.html). Note that this data is from 2010 and California has since seen [long-term reduction in urban water usage](https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/docs/2019feb/fs020519.pdf) in response to a multi-year drought, which presumably has somewhat increased the percentage of withdrawals used for agriculture.  
> **username_0**: I saw this diagram. It does not answer the question because "public supply" includes both residential and commercial use.  
> **username_4**: @username_0 For *California* [this 2014 article](https://www.kcet.org/commentary/drought-by-the-numbers-where-does-california-water-go) states: "About 6 percent of the state's water is consumed by industries, commercial operations, and governments. About 14 percent is poured into bathtubs, toilets, and washing machines or sprayed over residential lawns."  
> **username_3**: @username_0 the chart is split up the way it is because some places (mostly small towns) with "city water" AKA public water don't differentiate industrial vs residential consumption. fewer still differentiate commercial vs industrial.  
> **username_5**: You could include a [cooling tower image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clouds,_natural_and_otherwise_-_geograph.org.uk_-_778331.jpg) .  

---

