Water is used in many different ways.In Australia about 18% is used by urban and indudtrial users. Commercial users use 14% while households consume almost 50% of all the water used in Australia. Half of that is used in gardens but only 4% of all the water used indoors is consumed. Water is also used for swimming pools, washing, fighting fires, generating electricity, for transport and making practically everything, such as food and furniture. We must understand that there is a limit on how much water there is on this Earth. When dams are low, there are restrictions on how much water can be pumped out.

Humans also need water to survive, as are all living things. Humans need 2.5 litres of water per day to be healthy. 52% of our daily content is consumed as a liquid, 36% is consumed as solids and the remaining 12% when fats and carbhorhydrates are broken and changed into a liquid. We lose 1.5 litres of water in our liquid waste, 0.9 litres by sweat and 0.1 litres in our faeces.

Water is also used for irrigation. Irrigation is a benefit for Australia, turning desert into farmland. It uses extra water apart from rainfall to help crops and pastures grow. There are four main methods:

• Flood irrigation -- whole fields are flooded before drainage.
• Furrow irrigation -- water is directed between furrows.
• Sprinklers -- like the garden sprinklers in your home.
• Trickle/Drip -- directs water to roots from pipes in controlled quantities.

Of all of the above, the trickle method is most effective as up to 70% of the water may be wasted in the other methods.

Rain is collected for dry seasons. More water is collected from Australia than from any other nation. NSW collects 1,580 millilitres every square kilometre while USA only collects 760 millilitres, Egypt, 360 millilitres and India, only 150 millilitres. Farmers are permitted only a certain amount of water. A Dethridge wheel (invented in 1917 by John Dethridge) is only one of these devices that measures the amount of water.