DEL ORO WATER COMPANY Drawer 5172 Chico, California 95927 Regional Service Center Phone: 1-530-873-0327 Phone: 1-800-655-3582 Fax: 1-530-894-7645 Director of Community Relations Susan Howard Phone: 1-800-794-0276 Email: kma@corporatecenter.us

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Facts About Water      Each of us has a role in keeping water safe to drink. Just as "green thumb" people know how to care for plants, people with "blue thumbs" know how to take care of water. We invite you to show your "blue thumb" and take action to conserve and protect our water resources every day. To help you learn more about water, here are 25 basic facts: Fun Facts How Much Water Do We Use? Amount Taking a bath or shower 15-30 gallons Watering the lawn and yard 180 gallons Washing the dishes by machine/hand 14-60 gallons Washing clothes 50 gallons Washing the car 100 gallons Brushing your teeth 1 gallon Cooking 10 gallons Drinking 1/2 gallon Flushing the toilet (once) 4-7 gallons Leaking toilet (per day) 60 gallons How Much Water Does it Take to Produce One Serving of? Amount Corn 61 gallons Lettuce 6 gallons French Fries 6 gallons Tomatoes 3 gallons Apples 16 gallons Cantalope 51 gallons Cherries 90 gallons Oranges 22 gallons Watermelon 100 gallons Wheatbread 15 gallons Rice 36 gallons Almonds 12 gallons Margarine 92 gallons Sugar (from beets) 8 gallons Milk 65 gallons Cola Soft Drink 10 gallons Steak 2,607 gallons Hamburger 1,303 gallons Pork 408 gallons Chicken 408 gallons Eggs 136 gallons Typical Breakfast 209 gallons Typical Lunch 1,427 gallons Typical Dinner 2,897 gallons A days meals (total for one person) 4,533 gallons The first municipal water filtration works opened in Paisley, Scotland, in 1832.  More than 79,000 tons of chlorine are used per year in the United States and Canada to treat water.  Of all the earth's water, 97% is salt water found in the oceans and seas.  Only 1% of the earth's water is available for drinking water. Two percent is currently frozen.  About two-thirds of the human body is water. Some parts of the body contain more than others. For example, 70% of your skin is water.  There are more than 56,000 community water systems providing water to the public in the United States.  Public water suppliers process 38 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.  Approximately 1 millionmiles of pipelines and aquaducts carry water in the United States and Canada.That's enough to circle the earth 40 times.  About 800,000 water wells are drilled each year in the United States for domestic, farming, commercial, and water testing programs.  Typically, households consume at least 50% of their water by lawn sprinkling. Inside, toilets use most of the water, with an average of 27 gallons per person per day.  In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that drinking water is safe for human consumption. The act requires public wate systems to moniter and treat drinking water for safety.  More than 13 million households get their water from their own private wells and are responsible for treating and pumping water themselves.  Industries released 197 million pounds of toxic chemicals into waterways in 1990.  The average daily requirements for fresh water in the United States is about 40 billion gallons a day, with about 300 billion gallons used untreated for agricultural and commercial purposes.  You can survive about a month without food, but only 5 to 7 days without water.  Each person uses about 100 gallons of water a day at home.  The average five-minute shower takes between 15 and 25 gallons of water.  You can refill an 8 ounce glass of water approximately 15,000 times for the same cost as a six-pach of soda pop.  An automatic dishwasher uses approximately 9 to 12 gallons of water while hand washing can use up to 20 gallons.  If every household in America had a faucet the dripped once each second, 928 million gallons of water a day would leak away.  A dairy cow must drink 4 gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk.  One gallon of water weighs approximately 8 1/3 pounds.  One inch of rainfall drops 7,000 gallons, or nearly 7 tons of water, on a 60 foot by 180 foot piece of land.  300 million gallons of water are needed to produce a single days' supply of U.S. newsprint.  A person should consume 2 1/2 quarts of water per day (from all sources of water, food, ect.) to maintain health.  85% ofall landscape problems are due to overwatering. A properly designed and operated irrigation systemcan reduce water use by 20% or more each year.  Typically, less than 1% of the treated drinking water produced by utilities is actually consumed by people. Most goes for lawns, showers,and tubs and toilets, ect.  You lose 2 1/2 to 3 quarts of water per day through normal elimination, sweating, and breathing. If you excercise or live in a humid climate, you may lose another quart.      Fresh, clean drinking water is yours to use whenever you need it, but not to waste - It's too valuable. Remember that a little effort and a little common sense will make a big difference.