When people consider waste in regards to sustainability, they often consider physical garbage far before they consider water waste.  Water waste, however, is a major sustainability issue as, even though it doesn’t take the water out of the water cycle, but instead removes the water from being accessible and usable by humans.  It is also wasteful since it overly expends the energy used to deliver the water, such as in the overuse of the dishwasher or washing machine.   On the whole, water waste could lead to humans having less usable water readily available and can also take such water away from the environment.  As per the DOH, the average person wastes 30 gallons of water every day; some of this waste is due to human tasks, such as overly long showers and leaving faucets on while they are not being used.  Other reasons for water waste include issues such as unrepaired household leaks.  According to the EPA, the average household can waste 180 gallons of water a week from household leaks alone, which is 9,200 gallons of water wasted every year.  While this waste is very common, there are many methods that people can implement in their day to day life to combat this issue.  First and foremost would be to check their households for the aforementioned leaks and have them repaired to prevent any further issue.  Other simple tasks include turning off the tap when brushing teeth, which would save 8 gallons of water a day, and therefore 2,290 gallons of water a year.  One last common occurrence that would save water in the average household is running the dishwasher only when completely full; this alone would save 320 gallons of water per household per year.  Water waste is a common, overlooked issue, but by changing the way we implement some household tasks, we can save many gallons of water from being wasted every year.

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts

https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2014/09/23/does-wasting-household-water-remove-it-from-the-water-cycle/#:~:text=Rather%2C%20wasting%20water%20hurts%20humans,away%20from%20the%20natural%20ecosystem.