Water use in Canada, 1996

This figure illustrates the importance of the main water uses in Canada.

The diagram shows how:

• We use water in many different ways and quantities.
• Some uses require much more water than others. For example, electrical power generation (excluding hydroelectric power, which is an instream use) withdraws almost five times as much water as all manufacturing uses, and over 80% more than the four other uses combined.
• Some uses are more efficient than others. The manufacturing sector, for example, has a gross use of over twice the water intake, thanks to recirculation. The mining industry actually reuses its water more than twice, on average.
• Some uses consume more water than others. Agricultural uses, for example, return very little of the intake water to its source. In southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, agricultural withdrawals are highest for irrigation where water supplies are lowest.

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