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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Jonathan Weinberg

How on earth do we use so much water? Let’s start with flushing and washing …

Person at a tap, filling a glass of water.
Ensuring that we have enough water is a national priority. Photograph: Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

Do you ever wonder where each drop of water actually comes from every time you run the bath, wash the dishes, launder dirty clothes, water the plants, brush your teeth, flush the loo, or fill up a glass from the kitchen tap to quench your thirst?

No? Well you’re not alone. Many of us give very little thought to our water’s origin story; it simply comes through a pipe … right? Yet imagine how difficult all aspects of modern life would be without a treated public water supply arriving at our front door.

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