From Jörg Michael, Hanover, Germany
Jason Arunn Murugesu rightly laments that we use too much water. However, there is an elephant in the room to address. Household water consumption is entirely drinking water. Why do we use drinking water for toilets? Used water, for example from showering, would still be perfect for re-using in the toilet (29 July, p 23).
He also correctly says that the figures given are “household use”. On top of that comes industrial water use. In Germany, private water consumption is about the same as in Britain, but industrial consumption amounts to a whopping 7500 litres per person per day (although not all of that is drinking water). So the problem is bigger than he imagined.
