How much water do you use?

Household water use varies enormously depending on the number of people in a house and their personal needs.

On average

  • A person uses 145 litres per day.
  • 109 litres per property are lost through leakage every day.

Shower

  • Power shower: 13 litres is used per minute.
  • Mixer shower: 8 litres is used per minute.
  • Electric shower: 5 litres is used per minute.

Bath

  • A full bath uses 80 litres.

Toilet

  • 5 litres per flush using a modern cistern.
  • 9 litres per flush for older toilets.

Washing Machine

  • 50 litres per cycle.

Dishwasher

  • 14 litres per cycle for a modern dishwasher.
  • 10 litres per cycle on eco-setting.

Washing up by hand

  • 6 litres per minute is used with a running tap.
  • 8 litres per bowl wash.

Car wash

  • 250 litres per hose pipe use.
  • 30 litres per bucket wash.

Should you be on a water meter?

If you don’t have a water meter, our water meter calculator will help you work out if you’d be better off with one.

Use our calculator

How the average is worked out

We’ve taken the average household water use from our water company performance data appendices.

Download Company performance data-appendices 2021-22 (xlsx – 1 MB)