Less than 3% of municipally-treated water is actually used for drinking. The rest goes down the drain, down the toilet, or on our gardens. -Environment Canada
The average adult drinks only about 1.5 litres of water per day, and that includes water used in drinks such as coffee, tea and juice. -Health Canada
Canada's per capita water consumption is 65 percent above the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average, second only to the United States. Developing countries typically use 10 times less water than developed countries. -OECD
The amount of water on Earth never changes but its form and location moves around the earth in rivers, aquifers, oceans and clouds. The total volume of water on earth (including salty water) is about 1.4 billion km3. -United Nations Environment Program
Of the total volume of fresh water on Earth, a whopping 68.9 percent is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in mountainous regions, the Antarctic, and Arctic. -United Nations Environment Program
The longest river in B.C. is the Fraser River, which is 1,368 km (850 mi) long and goes from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The largest lake is Williston Lake (reservoir) which is 1,761 sq km (680 sq mi).
An estimated 750,000 British Columbians drink groundwater. Hundreds of groundwater aquifers provide water for industries, municipalities and rural homeowners in B.C.
Land uses like urban development, agriculture, mining and forestry all contribute to habitat loss in streams. A survey of 14 Vancouver Island streams showed that more than 40% lacked critical habitat features such as large woody debris, cover and pools.
An average garden hose pours out 20 litres of water per minute! A lot of water can be wasted when gardening or washing the car if you don't turn it off.
A running tap pours out seven to twelve litres a minute! Turn them off whenever possible, put the plug in or catch the water you need in a glass or pan.
A water saving toilet (6 litres per flush) can save you up to 14 litres each time you flush! For the average family that's 25,000 litres per year, with that water you could fill 25 hot tubs!
Dripping taps are a major cause of wasted water and can also cause water damage in the home. Fixing a dripping tap can save up to 300 litres of quality B.C. drinking water per week.
According to a recent poll 70% of Canadians agree that water will be wasted if a price is not put on it. Yet over 90% of Canadians believe that access to water is a human right, should free and not commercialised. -Ipsos Reid Poll (March 2008)
In the summer, one mature pine tree needs about 20-40 litres of water per day! This water is taken up from the ground and then transpired (released into the air).
There are approximately 44,000 active water licences in British Columbia.
Beef cattle need about 45 litres per day and dairy cattle need about 135 litres per day. These amounts increase by one and a half to two times a hot day.
In B.C. we use about 350 litres per person per day – not including industrial or agricultural use of water. Usually, in the home, toilets will use 30 percent and about another 30 percent is needed for bathing.
B.C. residents use much more water than the Canadian average, which is on average about 270 litres per person per day. Our water use is also much higher than many other developed countries (Environment Canada 1991-2009).
By conserving water, we reduce the need for new infrastructure like dams and water treatment plants. This will help avoid the negative impacts of new dams and save the community money.
Generally it is much less expensive to conserve water than it is to get it from a new supply source. For every glass of water we save, we have to produce and treat one less glass from the environment.
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