Water And Industry Water used and where it comes from

In 1997/98 the UK consumed just over 16.8 billion cubic metres of water.

Non-domestic usage accounted for 13.5 billion cubic metres while 3.3 billion cubic metres were used by households through the public water supply network.

Direct abstraction from groundwater and non-tidal waters amounted to nearly 9.6 billion cubic metres. The electricity and gas production and fishing industries accounted for the bulk of the water removed directly by industries. The electricity and gas production industry abstracted 5.6 billion cubic metres of water while the fishing industry abstracted 2.1 billion cubic metres.

Public water supply amounted to 7.2 billion cubic metres of which 1.8 million was lost through leakage. Domestic use accounted for nearly 45 per cent of the public water supply with the remainder spread fairly evenly across the manufacturing and services sectors.