How much water do you use at home?
Showers, wudu, the washing machine, the garden hose. Guess how much one person in the UAE uses in a day, then build your own day and watch your tank fill up.
Build your day
Set what you do on a normal day. Each line shows how many litres it uses, and the tank adds them up.
Can you cut your day by 21%?
The UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 aims to cut the country's total water demand by 21%. Lock in your day, then try to bring it down by the same share.
What you can do
Turning the tap off while you brush your teeth or shave saves more than 19 litres a day, says DEWA. Use a cup to rinse.
A small aerator screwed onto the tap mixes air into the stream. DEWA says it can cut tap water use by up to 40% without a weaker feel.
A tap dripping once a second wastes more than 11,000 litres a year. Often only a small washer needs changing.
Every minute less in the shower saves about 8 to 10 litres. Run the washing machine and dishwasher only when they are full.
A running hose uses about 19 litres a minute. Wash the car with a bucket, and water plants early in the morning or after sunset.
In the UAE, taps, showers and toilets sold for buildings must carry a water-efficiency label. Choose the most efficient one when you buy.
Sources: Daily use per person: Etihad Water and Electricity, reported by Al Bayan (22 March 2021): about 360 litres per person a day in the UAE, against a world average of 150 to 300; a Federal National Council report, reported by Emarat Al Youm (1 February 2024): 497.3 litres per person a day in 2020. This page uses the cautious range 360 to 500 litres. UN Water for Life Decade, "The human right to water and sanitation" media brief, citing WHO and UN Fact Sheet No. 35 (2010): 50 to 100 litres per person a day meet most basic needs. UAE government portal u.ae: UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 aims to cut total water demand by 21%. Fittings: US EPA WaterSense (standard showerhead 2.5 gallons a minute, about 9.5 litres; WaterSense showerhead 2.0 gallons, about 7.6 litres; standard bathroom tap 2.2 gallons, about 8.3 litres; standard toilet 1.6 gallons, about 6 litres a flush; WaterSense toilet 1.28 gallons, about 4.8 litres; older toilets up to 6 gallons, about 23 litres; a tap dripping once a second wastes more than 3,000 gallons a year, about 31 litres a day). DEWA, "Washrooms and faucets": aerators cut tap water use by up to 40%; turning the tap off while brushing or shaving saves more than 19 litres a day; dual-flush toilets save about 10,000 litres per person a year. Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, reported by Gulf News: older taps run at about 12 litres a minute, water-saving regulators about 6. Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, reported by Gulf News (2018): mandatory water-efficiency label for fittings, ordinary fittings about 12 litres a minute against about 5 for efficient ones. Dubai Municipality, reported by Gulf News (2018): an ordinary ablution tap uses 19.5 litres per wudu (3 minutes at 6.5 litres a minute). ENERGY STAR: a standard washing machine uses 20 gallons (about 76 litres) a load, a certified one 14 gallons (about 53 litres); certified dishwashers use at most 3.2 gallons (about 12 litres) a cycle. Maryland Department of the Environment: 5 minutes of a running hose uses 25 gallons, about 19 litres a minute. Assumptions on this page: a bucket car wash uses two 10-litre buckets; a hose car wash runs 15 minutes; "water-saving fittings" applies the 40% aerator saving to taps and wudu, the WaterSense showerhead and toilet, and the certified washing machine. Real homes vary, and the national averages also include cleaning, cooking, outdoor use and leaks. Checked October 2026.