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

• A person uses 142 litres per day.
• Metered customers uses 126 litres per person, per day.
• Unmetered customers uses 166 litres per person, per day.
• 112 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 your hands

• 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.

The above information is taken from our latest resilience report (pdf) and Discover Water.

Should you be metered?

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.