Yup, I am sure you are right that the numbers can be misleading. Those
numbers certainly arent authoritative in any case -- they came from a
elementary-school science project lesson plan... at least, that is
where I got them. Perhaps the 80 gal figure is closer to "domestic" per
capita consumption.

Of course, there is no denying that americans use a lot more water
than, say, people in west africa. And yes, lots of it is certainly used
for things like firefighting, large-scale agriculture, etc., which may
not play much of a role in many countries But a lot is also wasted on
watering lawns and such, and not necessary in an emergency situation
anyway. I also would assume that the vast majority of american's
gardens are not used for food production, but for pleasure or
decoration. That is in contrast to a typical african household garden,
which plays a major role in feeding the family.

-Kevin