Water Footprint Calculator

Estimate direct and embedded water footprint from household use and diet.

About Water Footprint Calculator

Embedded water in food dwarfs direct household use, typically by a factor of ten or more. That is why dietary choices dominate a water footprint while shower length barely registers. Water scarcity is regional, so where the embedded water was used matters as much as how much, which a single total cannot capture.

Formula

Water Footprint

Total = direct household use + embedded water in food consumed

embedded water: Water used to produce food and goods, also called virtual water
meat water intensity: Around 1,800 litres per serving of beef

Worked example

With the default values below, Water Footprint Calculator returns Total Daily Water Footprint of 3,442. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Shower minutes per dayminimum 0 min: 8 min
Shower flow rateminimum 0 L/min: 9 L/min
Other direct household useminimum 0 L: 70 L
Meat servings per weekminimum 0: 7
Household sizeminimum 1: 3

Results

Total Daily Water Footprint: 3,442 L
Direct Household Use: 142.0 L
Embedded Water From Diet: 3,300 L
Annual Water Footprint: 1,256.33 m3
Share That Is Embedded: 95.87%

Step by step

1Values used
2Water Footprint
3Total Daily Water Footprint= 3,442 L
4Direct Household Use= 142.0 L
5Embedded Water From Diet= 3,300 L
6Annual Water Footprint= 1,256.33 m3
7Share That Is Embedded= 95.87

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Water Footprint calculated?

Total = direct household use + embedded water in food consumed Embedded water in food dwarfs direct household use, typically by a factor of ten or more. That is why dietary choices dominate a water footprint while shower length barely registers.

Why does Water Footprint matter?

Water scarcity is regional, so where the embedded water was used matters as much as how much, which a single total cannot capture.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 5 inputs: Shower minutes per day, Shower flow rate, Other direct household use, Meat servings per week, Household size. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.