O’Hare International Airport
Major international airports are among the largest non-municipal consumers of water, drawing on local supplies for sanitation, terminal and aircraft cleaning, cooling/HVAC, landscaping, de-icing and fire-suppression systems.
While exact figures vary widely by airport size, climate and operational practices, typical annual water consumption falls into the following ballpark:
132 million gallons to over one billion gallons per year.
Roughly 400,000 to as much as three million gallons per day.
Equivalent to 1.4–11 million liters daily
So, why is water consumption so high in airports?
Is it to maintain the hundreds of aircraft flying into and out of the airport each day?
The answer might surprise you. Just as in most commercial buildings, a large amount of this water is used in restrooms – to flush toilets, urinals, and running the faucet. And this is all potable water, meaning it can be used for human consumption and well as unneeded purposes like flushing urine down a urinal.
Beyond water consumption in restrooms, most of the water used in airports goes to the following:
· Drinking fountains and restaurants in the airport.
· Regular washing of floors, windows, gates, and planes. In this case, both potable and non-potable water is often used.
· Cooling and HVAC systems also consume high volumes of water. Evaporative cooling towers and chillers are used in most airports to maintain comfortable temperatures
· Landscaping and irrigation come in next. Interestingly, commercial facilities in suburban areas use most of their water for landscaping. However, most airports purposely have limited landscaped areas to ensure security.
· Finally, there are specialized uses of water at an airport. Large amounts of water are used to de-ice planes or for fire suppression. *
Flying Toward Water Efficiency
Fortunately, airports are adopting a range of strategies to curb water use and bolster resilience:
Leak detection and rapid repair to prevent losses that can reach up to 50% in aging networks
Installation of low-flow fixtures and sensor taps
Replacing water-using urinals with waterless urinals
Harvesting rainwater and treating greywater for non-potable needs
On-site wastewater treatment and reuse for landscaping or cooling towers
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) planning to align airport systems with regional water stress considerations
Further, by benchmarking consumption per passenger or per aircraft movement, airports can set targets and track progress—turning themselves into local leaders in sustainable water stewardship.
Klaus Reichardt, founder and CEO of Waterless Co. LLC in Vista, California, is a recognized authority on water conservation. Since 1991, he has led the company to innovate plumbing products like the Waterless No-Flush urinal, which operates entirely without water.
To contract Klaus, click here
*These statistics can vary considerably based on a variety of factors.
