Drinking water runs rich man's flush

One full standard toilet flush in the developed world uses as much water as the average person in the developing world uses in a day, i.e., for everything.

To maintain hygiene, one needs about 25 litres a day. In developed countries, a single person uses 500-800 litres a day!

The US uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day. The average person in the US uses anywhere from 100-150 gallons of water a day; and much of this consumption is from just flushing the toilet.

In the UK, an average of 40 gallons of water a day is being used. While in Australia, the driest inhabited continent, an average person uses 117 gallons a day.

The FAO has already warned that in the next 20 years, two thirds of the earth's population could face serious water shortages.