Water statistics 2026

Key figures

Water use

• People withdraw about 4,200 cubic kilometers of fresh water a year, around 10 percent of the water that is accessible.
• Of the water withdrawn worldwide, about 69 percent goes to agriculture, 19 percent to industry and 12 percent to domestic and other municipal uses.
• The United States withdrew 322 billion gallons of water a day in 2015 across all uses.
• Thermoelectric power plants withdrew 133 billion gallons a day in 2015, more than any other use, ahead of irrigation at 118 billion and public supply at 39 billion.
• Each American uses an average of 82 gallons of water a day at home.
• The average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water a day at home.
• Outdoor use makes up 30 percent of household water use nationwide and runs much higher in drier parts of the country.
• Only 2.5 percent of all the water on Earth is fresh.
• About 68.7 percent of the world's fresh water is held in ice caps and glaciers and about 30.1 percent is groundwater.

Scarcity and drought

• 25 countries, home to one-quarter of the world's people, face extremely high water stress each year.
• At least 50 percent of the world's population, around 4 billion people, live under highly water-stressed conditions for at least one month of the year.
• By 2030, demand for fresh water is projected to exceed supply by 40 percent.
• By 2050, 1.9 billion city dwellers will live with seasonal water shortages.
• Demand for water in cities is projected to rise by 50 to 70 percent over the next three decades.
• Groundwater supplies around 40 percent of the water used for irrigation worldwide.
• As of September 29, 2026, 59.38 percent of the lower 48 states are in drought.

Utilities and water bills

• There are over 148,000 public water systems in the United States.
• Community water systems supplied some of the drinking water of more than 320 million people in 2023, roughly 95 percent of the U.S. population.
• Around 15 percent of Americans, over 43 million people, rely on private wells for their drinking water.
• The average 2022 water bill for a household using 7,500 gallons a month was $45.09.
• Nearly 40 percent of water utilities worldwide do not cover their operating and maintenance costs.
• The 2025 national infrastructure report card graded U.S. drinking water C- and wastewater D+.

Infrastructure spending

• U.S. drinking water systems will need $625 billion for pipe replacement, treatment plant upgrades, storage tanks and other key assets.
• Reported wastewater infrastructure needs in the United States come to $345.7 billion, with another $115.3 billion for stormwater.
• Federal law is investing over $50 billion in water and wastewater improvements between fiscal 2022 and 2026.
• Of that, $15 billion is for replacing lead service lines and $4 billion is for emerging contaminants.
• Reaching the global targets for safe water and sanitation leaves an annual spending gap of between $131.4 billion and $140.8 billion in 2017 prices.
• Total public spending on the water sector in 130 countries is estimated at $140.7 billion a year in 2017 prices.

Leaks and lost water

• The United States and Canada have about 260,000 water main breaks a year.
• The overall break rate is 11.1 breaks per 100 miles of water main a year.
• Household leaks waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water a year across the United States.
• The average household's leaks waste nearly 10,000 gallons a year, and ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more a day.
• On average, 14 percent of the water that water systems treat is lost to leaks.
• About 19.4 percent of water mains, 452,000 miles in all, are past their useful life and have not been replaced for lack of money.
• Water utilities lose 126 billion cubic meters of water a year as non-revenue water, valued at USD 39 billion.