← Silicon Wafer (chips)All Goods

Smartphone

Everyday Goods Water Fact Sheet
3,371
gallons of water per item, global average

One item: one smartphone

The same volume as

🥛
53,933
Glass of Water (8 oz)
🍶
26,967
Water Bottle (16 oz)
🪣
674
5-Gallon Bucket
🛁
93.6
Bathtub (36 gal)
About this figure Manufacturing one smartphone uses about 3,400 gallons, most of it ultrapure water for chip fabrication. Source: Friends of the Earth / Trucost, Mind Your Step (2015). Figures are global-average total water footprints (green, blue and grey water) per item. They are not California-specific and are on a different basis from the crop sheets, which show California irrigation water applied per serving.
Sources

Global-average water footprints per item: Water Footprint Network (Mekonnen and Hoekstra) for cotton, leather and paper goods, applied to typical item mass; item-specific life-cycle assessments for the smartphone, silicon wafer, desktop computer, car, disposable diaper and bottled water, as named on each sheet.

Figures as of September 10, 2026.

How to cite

Everyday Goods Water Fact Sheet: Smartphone. conciseVerbosity, September 10, 2026. https://api.conciseverbosity.com/water-facts/goods/smartphone.html

← Silicon Wafer (chips)All Goods
Everyday Goods Water Facts • api.conciseverbosity.com • Figures as of September 10, 2026