No doubt the first public-supply water system was when Jack the Caveman was hired by his neighbors to fetch a bucket of water from Dinosaur River in exchange for some delicious prehistoric bran muffins. Organized systems that get water, clean it and deliver it to local residents still exist all over the world.
Public water-supply systems, which you might know better as the county and city water departments, are vitally important to all populations. These are government or privately-run facilities that withdraw water from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wells and then deliver it to our homes, businesses, and schools. The majority of the population (about 84 percent) of the United States nowadays gets their water in this manner. You probably get your home drinking water this way (please fill out our survey). In the past, when the population was a lot more rural, people used to have to dig their own wells and create storage tanks for their water supply. But with the majority of people living in bigger cities the public-supply systems do that work for us. All we do is turn on the tap and pay the bills!
For 2000, withdrawals were an estimated 43,300 Mgal/d, or 48,500 thousand acre-feet per year. Public-supply withdrawals were about 13 percent of total freshwater withdrawals and nearly 21 percent of total freshwater withdrawals for all categories excluding thermoelectric power. About 242 million people depended on water from public suppliers. The majority of the water for public supply (63 percent) was withdrawn from surface sources. Between 1995 and 2000, public-supply withdrawals and the population served increased 8 percent. The population served as a percentage of the total U.S. population was about 85 percent in 2000.
As time has gone by, more and more people have been served by the Nation's water departments. In 2000, about 240 million people of the Nation's total population of 285 million were served in this manner, and by 2000, about 240 million of the total population of about 285 million were served by these systems. The map below shows the amount of public-supply withdrawals by State for 2000.
States with the largest populations withdrew the largest quantities of water. California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois accounted for 40 percent of total public-supply withdrawals and 38 percent of the total population served by public suppliers. The largest surface-water withdrawals were in California and Texas, and the largest ground-water withdrawals were in California and Florida.
[d] - Data for this chart are available
Estimated withdrawals for public supply increased continually since 1950 along with population served by public suppliers. Public-supply withdrawals more than tripled during this 50-year period and increased about 8 percent from 1995 to 2000. The percentage of population served by public suppliers increased from 62 percent for 1950 to 85 percent for 2000. Public-supply withdrawals represented about 8 percent of total withdrawals for 1950 and about 11 percent for 2000. The percentage of ground-water use for public supply increased from 26 percent for 1950 to 40 percent for 1985 and has remained at slightly less than 40 percent since.
Sources and more informationEstimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000, USGS Circular 1268:
• Public-supply water use, 2000: Summary | Data table, by State | National map
• Water: The Source To Tap Story: Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu//wups.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 13-Aug-2008 07:23:04 EDT
