Spring 1999

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, about 84 percent of the nation's population is served by public water-supply systems. The remaining 16 percent is served by their own water-supply systems. Ground water was the source for 99 percent of self-supplied domestic use. Domestic water use includes water for normal household purposes, such as drinking, food preparation, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, and watering lawns and gardens. Public supply refers to water withdrawn by public and private water suppliers and delivered to multiple users for domestic, commercial, industrial and thermoelectric power uses. Public supply (as defined in the USGS report) includes public and private water systems that furnish water to at least 25 people, or that have a minimum of 15 connections. Of public water-supply withdrawals, 56 percent was for domestic use. Surface water is the source for 63 percent of public-supply withdrawals, while ground water accounts for the other 37 percent.