What are Standard Water Requirements?

Standard Water Requirements | Greensutra | India

This figure represents the Hierarchy of Water Requirements based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

There is a growing demand on the existing water resources which includes River Water Sources, Precipitation and Ground Water Sources. Thus the primary objective of a planned development is to provide adequate, reliable and good quality potable water. For this purpose, standards of water requirements were developed by national agencies.

It is very important to calculate the water requirements accurately to avoid failure in water planning, management and conservation. Standard Water Requirements are calculated per person per day. The basic factors that influence these requirements are:

Human Consumption
Bathing
Flushing
Washing
Miscellaneous Activities

Other factors that also affect the requirements are:

Thermal and Physiological Stress
General State of Hygiene and Health
Climatic Conditions

Building Type	Details	Comments	Water Requirement (per head)
Residential	for population of 20,000 to 1,00,000	with full flushing system	100-150
	population >1,00,000	with full flushing system	150-200
	service connection	no flushing system	70-100
	standpost connection	no flushing system	40

Commercial	–	with flushing system	45

Schools	Day	–	45
Schools	Boarding	–	135

Hostels	–	–	135

Factories	–	with no bath	30
Factories	–	with bath	45

Cinemas/ Theatres/ Concert Halls	–	–	15

Restaurant	–	–	70

Hospitals	utpo 100 beds	with laundry	340
Hospitals	More than 100 beds	with laundry	450

In India, the average domestic water consumption is 4.1% of the total water use. The Bureau of Indian Standards states that these standard requirements vary depending on several factors.

These standard water requirements are useful for:

Water Demand Estimation
Water Management
Water Conservation
Reducing Water Wastage

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