{"id":1437,"date":"2012-07-06T08:30:37","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T13:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.watercache.com\/blog\/?p=1437"},"modified":"2012-08-11T09:13:30","modified_gmt":"2012-08-11T14:13:30","slug":"water-infographic-with-water-waste-statistics-from-leaky-pipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watercache.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/water-infographic-with-water-waste-statistics-from-leaky-pipes","title":{"rendered":"Water Infographic: Alarming Statistics About Wasted Water in Our Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Water<\/a>

This infographic has wrong statistics!!<\/p><\/div>\n

IBM created a water infographic to highlight some alarming statistics about how much water is wasted due to leaks in our water distribution infrastructure. A third of the water infrastructure in the US is 40 to 80 years old. Therefore, replacing this old infrastructure and repairing leaks is estimated to cost $335 billion over the next 20 years. In terms of water waste, not only do the leaky faucets in our homes waste a lot of water, but there is an average of 700 water main breaks each day across the US which wastes a tremendous amount of water. These pipe leaks are also exasperated by drought conditions<\/a>, currently affecting a big part of the US.
\nUpdate: The statistics in this infographic may be suspect. Michael Campana (@WaterWired<\/a>) researched it a bit in this post<\/a> and found that dripping faucets don’t waste 27,000 gallons per year, but only 2,700 gallons per year.<\/em><\/p>\n

So What Can I Do?<\/h3>\n

While the issues represented in the infographic have to be solved on a municipal scale by municipalities and water providers, there are some action steps that you, the homeowner, can take to do your part.
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\nWe can all reduce the amount of water we use on a daily basis. During the summer months, many cities report that their water customers use more water for outdoor irrigation<\/a> than inside the house. Therefore, while conserving water indoors is helpful, the larger bang-for-the-buck conservation gains happen outdoors.<\/p>\n

Here are a few suggestions to tame your outdoor water usage:<\/p>\n