Four-in-five Europeans considerably underestimate their daily water consumption, with almost a quarter incorrectly believing it to be as little as “one to ten litres a day”, according to new research.
According to the new Grohe Water Insights 2025 report, which polled more than 20,000 consumers across 12 countries, Europeans have a strong awareness for the necessity of water saving measures, but severely underestimate their own individual water use.
Two thirds of Europeans said they expected water scarcity to be a problem in the future, and almost nine-in-ten (87%) believe water efficiency in their own households to be personally important.
Despite this, an alarming 79% underestimate their own daily domestic water consumption. More concerningly, almost a quarter 22% of those surveyed believed that average daily water consumption “to be as little as one to ten litres per day”.
In actuality, the average European consumes around 144 litres daily.
The report found that the primary motivation for conserving water is to make financial savings, with 34% of respondents saying that saving money was their top reason to save water.
Slightly less important to European consumers were “safeguarding water resources for future generations”, and “protecting the environment”, which were both mentioned by 23% of those polled.
Although most Europeans said they valued water conservation in their household, more than a third of participants admitted they hadn’t yet installed water-saving devices. Key barriers to adoption were the perceived high cost of water-saving devices (28%), a lack of information (25%), and an admitted lack of interest (24%).
On a global scale, the report found that the Middle East leads the way on water-scarcity awareness, and has the highest adoption rate of water-saving fittings.
On the whole, Europeans reportedly consider water shortages in their region to be more likely than North Americans – an increase of around 11%. This is significant because despite the U.S. facing higher water stress than Europe, Europeans are generally more aware of the issue, and have a higher adoption rate of water-saving solutions.
“These findings are as encouraging as they are a call to action: European consumers are not closing their eyes to the issue of water scarcity. Still, many don’t fully realize the value of water and their ability to contribute to water conservation,” warned Bijoy Mohan, leader of LIXIL International.
“As an industry, we have a responsibility to educate consumers as to the smart choices they can make, while also making sure they don’t have to choose between enjoying water and saving one of our most precious resources.
“By providing products that allow consumers to save water without compromising on their everyday rituals, we can help them have a meaningful impact.”
