“When population growth is coupled with excessive consumption of resources, problems multiply. Currently, 20 percent of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86 percent of the total private consumption expenditures, while the poorest 20 percent consume only 1.3 percent. The unequal distribution of wealth and resources leads to oblivious waste and excess in the wealthy nations, and suffering in the resource-starved regions.”(CWAC 2010)

This inequality can be seen in the consumption of water in America when compared to the other parts of the world. The world’s population is continuously growing, so the demand of water is also, but we have a limited water supply. It is important that industrialized nations realize the demand for water globally and therefore practice conserving the current water supply.

When the population increases so does the consumption of water; it is estimated that by 2025 2-3 billion people will be living in countries experiencing water-stressed conditions. In the 20th century the world’s population has tripled, but the use of the water resources has grown 6 fold. It is also estimated that in the next fifty years the world’s population will again grow 40-50% and if we continuously use the amount of water that we are currently using the water supply will significantly diminish.

On top the water shortage an increase to the population would also bring industrialization and urbanization which causes environmental problems which directly affects the quality of the water supply. Currently we are globally experiencing 1.1 billion people not having access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people not having adequate sanitation supplies causing the death of 3900 children daily from waterborne diseases. Even in America we feel the harsh reality of the population increase and its affects on our water supply. About 218 million American citizens live at least 10 miles from a polluted water source, giving the estimate of 40% of water in America is unsafe for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.

America’s population is growing rapidly, so it is important that US citizens take a look at their water consumption. The average family of four approximately uses 400 gallons of water per day, and it is estimated by the EPA that 70% of this water is used indoors. Now 280 gallons of water seems like a lot for a family of four to use indoors per day, and it is, but it is also important to understand where the vast majority of water usage in the house is.

The bathroom is the largest consumer of water in the American household, the toilet alone uses 27% of the household water. Now if a family uses the 400 gallons of water per day then the toilet would approximately use 75.6 gallons of that water, and this equation it is not calculating if the family uses new or older toilet models. The older toilets can use between 3.5 to 7 gallons of water each flush, while the WaterSense labeled toilets use 75% to 80% less water than the older models.

Even the bathroom faucet is a huge water consumer; on average the faucet uses 2 gallons of water per minute. To give the reader a mental image on how quickly water is wasted, imagine brushing your teeth and leaving the faucet on, like many people do, and on average it takes 3-5 minutes to fully brush your teeth. If an individual left the faucet on that entire time they could have wasted between 6-10 gallons of water, just from brushing their teeth. Water is quickly and easily wasted in the American household, but by changing a few simple items in our routine we can substantially change the amount of water that we consume on a daily basis.