2011 was a thirsty year.
Wisconsin residential customers flushed, drank and watered their flowers with an average of 52,300 gallons of water in 2011, up from about 52,200 in 2010, according to new figures released by the state Public Service Commission.
Until 2011, per-capita consumption among residential users had fallen steadily since 2007, when each accounted for about 58,500 gallons of water.
2011 also saw the reversal of a trend in declining pumping by municipal water utilities, which the PSC regulates. Most of the increase was in water taken from groundwater sources, not surfaces ones — Lake Michigan, where the Milwaukee Water Works draws its water, is considered a surface source.
(graph by Wisconsin Public Service Commission)
