TABLE OF CONTENTS Benedykt Dziegielewski
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, Illinois
Eva Opitz
PMCL
Carbondale, Illinois
From the hydrologic perspective, water use can be defined as all water flows that are a result of human intervention within the hydrologic cycle. A more restrictive definition of water use refers to water that is actually used for a specific purpose. Table 5.1 contains definitions of nine such uses (Solley et al., 1998). Urban water supply systems deliver water to most of these categories of use with domestic and commercial uses being almost entirely dependent on public deliveries. Several other categories such as industrial, irrigation, and public uses are also present in urban areas. Some categories are found primarily outside of urban areas or require large quantities of untreated water, and they tend to be self-supplied.
| Water-use purpose | Definition |
|---|---|
| Commercial use | Water for motels, hotels, restaurants, office buildings, and other commercial facilities and institutions |
| Domestic use | Water for household needs such as drinking, food preparation, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, and watering lawns and gardens (also called residential water use) |
| Industrial use | Water for industrial purposes such as fabrication, processing, washing, and cooling |
| Irrigation use | Artificial application of water on lands to assist in the growing of crops and pastures... |
