Amount of Water Needed for All Purposes
The amount of water needed for all purposes varies just the same as the amount of water needed by the body varies with conditioning factors. The locality and the climate will enter into the consideration of the amount of water needed to meet the requirements of hygiene and sanitation.
The amount of water required by the human body in twenty-four hours varies with many factors. The age of the individual and his occupation and health, and climate would be conditioning factors. However, authorities are pretty well agreed as to the amount necessary. It is estimated that the body requires a little less than one gallon of water per day, about two quarts taken as drinking water and the balance in food.
There is a wide range of difference in the amounts estimated, for under some conditions, a minimum of seventeen gallons, or even twelve gallons, would be sufficient, while under other circumstances and in other localities as much as 300 gallons per day per individual would not be an excessive or wasteful amount. The average amount estimated per individual per day for domestic purposes is placed at seventeen gallons for all purposes. In 1918 the statistics showed that Buffalo used an average of 260 gallons per capita per day, but many cities used much less. In Berlin in 1913 the water consumption amounted to an average of twenty-four gallons per capita per day.
The hygienic importance of these figures is insignificant since they are only approximate. There are a number of factors that are not taken into consideration. The figures are estimated on the number of gallons of water pumped and no account whatsoever is taken of the water waste through precipitation and loss through leaky pipes. Some engineers maintain that fully half the water pumped is lost in these various ways. Another thing that must be considered when comparing the amount of water used by different cities is the industries. Some industries require much more water than others, therefore, if a just comparison is to be made between cities only the water that is actually passed through the private meters must be considered.