U.S. Water Supply and Distribution Factsheet

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All life on Earth depends on water. Human uses include drinking, bathing, crop irrigation, electricity generation, and industrial activity, such as paper and metal production.1 For some uses, water requires treatment beforehand. Over the last century, water treatment goals have remained consistent: producing water that is biologically and chemically safe, appealing to consumers, and non-corrosive and non-scaling. Water supply problems and solutions vary significantly by region. Failure by governments to enforce drinking water regulations and promptly protect public health resulted in lead contamination and cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint, MI in 2014-2019.2 The arid southwest faces droughts, and decreasing water levels at reservoirs like Lake Powell, Lake Mead, and Lake Oroville are impacting hydropower production.3,4,5 In marine systems like south Florida, increased freshwater use has created the need for desalination plants.6

Patterns of Use

  • In 2015, U.S. water use was approximately 322B gal/d, 87% of which was freshwater, leaving 13% from salt water.7 Thermoelectric power plant cooling (133B gal/d) and irrigation (118B gal/d) were the largest withdrawals.7 Water use increased by 7.5% from 2000 to 2020.8 Though 41% of daily water use is for power plant cooling, only 3% of these withdrawals are consumptive, meaning 97% of the water is returned to the environment.7 Irrigation includes water for agricultural crops and water used for landscaping, golf courses, parks, etc.7
  • In 2015, California and Texas accounted for 16% of U.S. water withdrawals.7 Florida, New York, and Maryland accounted for 50% of saline water withdrawals.7
Estimated Use of Water, 20157

Sources of Water

  • Surface sources account for 74% of all water withdrawals.7
  • Approximately 87% of the U.S. population relied on public water supply in 2015; the remainder, 43 million Americans,8 relied on water from domestic wells.7
  • Approximately 144,834 publicly owned water systems provide piped water for human consumption in 2026, of which 34% are community water systems (CWS).9 The largest 9% of CWSs provide water to 79% of the population.9
  • Nearly all rural populations rely on groundwater for drinking water.11 Over 84B gal of groundwater is withdrawn in the U.S. every day; nearly 70% is for irrigation.7
Withdrawals by Source7

Energy Use

  • 2% of U.S. electricity use goes toward pumping and treating water and wastewater.12 Electricity accounts for around 40% of municipal water processing and distribution costs.12
  • Groundwater supply from public sources requires 2,100 kWh/M gal, about 31% more electricity than surface water supply, mainly due to greater pumping requirements.13
  • The California State Water Project is the state’s largest single energy use: 2.5-9.5B kWh/yr, partially met by its own hydroelectric generation.14 Delivering water from the San Francisco Bay-Delta to Southern CA uses 3-4% of all state electricity.15 19% of CA’s electricity use is for pumping, treating, collecting, and discharging water and wastewater.16
  • The Central Arizona Project moves water from Lake Havasu to Tuscon and is one of Arizona’s largest electricity uses, spending $60-80M on electricity per year for pumping.17

Water Treatment

  • The UN 6th Sustainable Development Goal aims to ensure access to clean water for all. Clean water and sound water resource management are essential for a sustainable future.18
  • The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), enacted in 1974 and amended in 1986, 1996, and 2018, regulates contaminants in public water supplies, provides infrastructure funding, protects drinking water sources, and promotes water system compliance capacity.19
  • The U.S. EPA monitors drinking water for microorganisms, disinfectants, radionuclides, and organic and inorganic compounds.21
  • 91% of CWSs are designed to disinfect water, 23% to remove or sequester iron, 13% to remove/sequester manganese, and 21% for corrosion control.10 For nearly 50% of groundwater treatment plants, disinfection is the only treatment step.10
  • Use the Municipal Drinking Water Database to learn more about the drinking water systems of over 2,000 U.S. cities and the communities that they serve.22
Size Categories of Community Water Systems9,20

Life Cycle Impacts

Infrastructure Requirements

  • The 2023 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment found that U.S. water systems need $625B of investment by 2041 to maintain clean drinking water supply.23
Water System Need by 2041, ($) by Project Type23
Drinking Water Systems Need by 2041, by Project Type.
  • Water systems maintain more than 2M miles of transmission and distribution mains.8 In 2020, the average age of U.S. water pipes was 45 years, up from 25 years in 1970.24
  • From 2018 to 2023, the rate of water main breaks per mile of pipe decreased by 21%.8 This is large due the to replacement of cast iron asbestos cement pipes (which have the highest breakage rates) for ductile iron and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) alternatives.8 In 2025, there were roughly 240,000 water main breaks, costing $2.6B in repairs and maintenance.8
  • Aging infrastructure contributes significantly to water loss; 33.3T gal (worth $187B) is lost annually.8
  • Lead is used in an estimated 3.9% of total U.S. water service lines.25,26 In 2021, Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) allocating $15B towards lead service line replacement.23

Consumptive Use

  • Consumptive water use draws water from a source within a basin and returns little or none.7
  • Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of total U.S. consumptive water use.27 Of the 118B gal/d of freshwater withdrawn for irrigation, over half is lost to consumptive use.7 Over the past 50 years, water consumption has tripled.28

Solutions and Sustainable Alternatives

Supply Side

  • Continued federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will reduce the infrastructure investment gap and decrease service disruptions to water-reliant businesses, resulting in 46% cost savings and preserving over 200,000 jobs by 2043.2
  • Periodic rehabilitation, repair, and replacement of distribution infrastructure would improve water quality and avoid leaks.30 Right-sizing, upgrading to energy efficient equipment, and monitoring and control systems can optimize systems for the communities they serve, while saving energy and water.16
  • Significant energy efficiency opportunities exist for pumps and motors.31 Implementing on-site energy and chemical use efficiency measures, including sludge recycling and chemical recovery, reduces environmental impacts and chemical use.
  • Effective watershed management is often more efficient than treating contaminated water. NYC invested $1-1.5B in a watershed protection project to improve the water quality in the Catskill watershed  rather than constructing a new $6-8B filtration plant.32 Over 25 years, the Watershed Protection Program has improved water quality with strong indications of continued effectiveness.33
  • Two large scale desalination projects in the U.S. (CA and FL) provide a combined 75 million gallons per day. Brackish (less saline) water desalination is used by communities in CA, TX, and FL. There is significant research in the U.S. to improve existing desalination technologies in order to lower the cost and energy intensity.34

Demand Side

  • Better engineering practices: plumbing fixtures to reduce water consumption (high-efficiency toilets, low-flow showerheads, and faucet aerators); water reuse and recycling (graywater systems and rain barrels); efficient landscape irrigation practices.35,36
  • Decrease consumption of water intensive foods: corn,37 soybeans,37 and beef.38
  • Better planning and management: pricing and retrofit programs; proper leak detection and metering; residential water audit programs and public education programs.36,39
  • Communities experiencing environmental injustice can use environmental justice resources, such as the Water Justice Toolkit.40
Cite As

Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. 2026. "U.S. Water Supply and Distribution Factsheet." Pub. No. CSS05-17.

  1. Karki, U., & Rao, P. (2023) Techno-economic analysis of the water, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions impacts from the adoption of water efficiency practices in the U.S. manufacturing sector. Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107054
  2. Flint Water Advisory Task Force (2016) Final Report.
  3. Udall, B., J. Overpeck (2017) The twenty-first century Colorado River hot drought and implications for the future.
  4. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) (2026) Drought Impacts on Hydroelectric Power Generation in the Western United States.5https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/drought-impacts-hydroelectric-power-generation-western-united-states/frequently-asked-questions
  5. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (2026) Interior Region 7 Upper Colorado Basin. https://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/crsp/studies/
  6. South Florida Water Management District (2021) "Desalination."
  7. Dieter, C., et al. (2018) Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1441.
  8. American Society of Civil Engineers (2025) 2025 Infrastructure Report Card - Drinking Water
  9. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2026) Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Inventory Summary Report. 
  10. U.S. EPA (2009) 2006 Community Water System Survey.
  11. USGS (2018) Groundwater Decline and Depletion
  12. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2026) EPA Energy Efficiency for Water Utilities. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/energy-efficiency-water-utilities
  13. Electric Power Research Institute (2013) Electricity Use and Management in the Municipal Water Supply and Wastewater Industries.
  14. California Department of Water Resources (2026) Producing and Consuming Power.
  15. California Energy Commission (2020) Water-Energy Bank.
  16. Congressional Research Service (2017) "Energy-Water Nexus: The Water Sector's Energy Use."
  17. Central Arizona Project (CAP) (2025) CAP power portfolio factsheet. https://library.cap-az.com/documents/factsheets/CAP-FactSheet-PowerPortfolio-Aug2025.pdf
  18. UN Environmental Programme (2024) GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
  19. Congressional Research Service (2021) Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements.
  20. U.S. Census Bureau (2026) U.S. and World Population Clock. 
  21. U.S. EPA (2021) “National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.”
  22. Hughes, Sara; Kirchhoff, Christine; Conedera, Katelynn; Friedman, Mirit, 2023, "The Municipal Drinking Water Database, 2000-2018 [United States]", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/DFB6NG, Harvard Dataverse, V2.
  23. US EPA (2023) Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment – Seventh Factsheet.
  24. Water Finance and Management (2017) "Bluefield: CAPEX for Pipe Suppliers to Hit $300 Billion Over Next Decade."
  25. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2026) EPA's 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf/epas-7th-drinking-water-infrastructure-needs-survey-and-assessment
  26. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2026) Service Line Inventory. https://sdwis.epa.gov/ords/sfdw_pub/r/sfdw/sdwis_fed_reports_public/service-line-inventory
  27. The National Agricultural Law Center (2013) “Water Law: An Overview.”
  28. EPA (2023) Water Conservation at EPA.
  29. ASCE (2024) Bridging the Gap: The Power of Investment in Water
  30. US EPA (2018) Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment – Sixth Report. 
  31. U.S. EPA (2013) Strategies for Saving Energy at Public Water Systems.
  32. Chichilnisky, G. and G. Heal (1998) Economic returns from the biosphere. Nature, 391: 629-630.
  33. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Division on Earth and Life Studies; Water Science and Technology Board; Committee to Review the New York City Watershed Protection Program. Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2020 Aug 10.
  34. "Desalination: Converting Saline Water into a Municipal Water Source." Congress.gov, Library of Congress, 4 August 2026, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12378.
  35. U.S. EPA (2017) Simple Steps to Save Water - WaterSense
  36. U.S. EPA (2020) “Water Management Plans and Best Practices at EPA.”
  37. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) (2026) Irrigation & Water Use. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-practices-management/irrigation-water-use
  38. Gerbens-Leenes, P.W., Mekonnen, M.M., & Hoekstra, A.Y. (2013) The water footprint of poultry, porl and beef: a comparative study in different countries and production systems. Water Resources and Industry, https://waterfootprint.org/resources/dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wri.2013.03.001
  39. U.S. EPA (2013) Strategies for Saving Water at Public Water Systems
  40. American Rivers (2021) Water Justice Toolkit: A Guide to Address Environmental Inequities in Frontline Communities

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