Overall, domestic water allocation underwent significant shifts over the 20-year period. While water usage in kitchens and bathrooms grew, the shares spent on gardens, washing clothes, and toilets all declined. Notably, kitchen usage doubled to become the primary domestic consumer by 2008, whereas garden consumption dropped precipitously to become the smallest category.
In 1988, bathroom activities accounted for the highest share of residential water consumption at 25%. Over the subsequent two decades, this figure rose steadily by 4 percentage points to reach 29% in 2008. In contrast, kitchen water usage initially represented the smallest proportion in 1988, standing at just 15%. However, it experienced the most dramatic growth, doubling its share to 30% by 2008 and overtaking bathroom use as the largest single category.
Conversely, the remaining three sectors saw a contraction in their relative shares. In 1988, washing clothes was the second largest consumer at 22%, but it dipped slightly to 19% twenty years later. Similarly, toilet water usage decreased modestly from 18% in 1988 to 14% in 2008. The most sharp reduction occurred in garden irrigation, which plummeted from 20% in 1988 to a mere 8% by 2008.