The two pie charts compare the proportions of total water consumption allocated to five sectors in Sydney, Australia, in 1997 and 2007.
Overall, the food industry remained by far the largest consumer of water in both years, despite a noticeable decline over the period. By contrast, the service sector experienced substantial growth and became the second-largest user by 2007. Meanwhile, water usage in manufacturing and the building industry fell, whereas household consumption rose slightly.
In 1997, nearly half of all water (48%) was used by the food industry, dwarfing the figures for other sectors. Household use accounted for 19%, followed by manufacturing at 15% and the service industry at 13%. The building industry consumed the smallest share, at just 5%.
A decade later, the food industry’s share had decreased to 41%, although it still dominated overall usage. The service sector almost doubled its proportion to 25%, overtaking households, whose consumption increased modestly to 21%. In contrast, manufacturing saw a reduction to 11%, while water use in the building industry declined sharply to a mere 2%.
In summary, the data indicate a gradual shift away from industrial water use towards service-related and domestic consumption over the ten-year period.