If your boss offers you a choice of postings between London, New York and New Delhi, and you want to be sure of your water supplies, New York is the one to pick. Consumption has fallen from 1.5m gallons a day two decades ago to a little less than 1.1m gallons today. Although the city’s population has grown over the same period, to almost 9m, consumption has fallen from its 1988 peak of 208 gallons per person to 136 gallons by 2003.
But that is still about 2.5 times what the average single Londoner uses, and London families, by sharing dishwashers, washing machines, and maybe baths, use less still.
