Municipal water use is directly related to the quantity of water withdrawn by populations in cities, towns, housing estates, domestic and public service enterprises. The public supply also includes water for industry that provides directly for the needs of urban populations and this demand also consumes high quality water from the city water supply system. In many cities, a considerable quantity of water is used in market gardening and for watering vegetable gardens and domestic garden plots.

The volume of public water use depends on the size of an urban population and the services and utilities provided, such as the extent of pipe networks for supply and sewerage, or centralized hot-water supply where available. Also, much depends on climate conditions. In many large cities, present water withdrawal amounts to over 150 gallons per day per person which looks to only increase more in the future. Efficiency in wastewater treatment is becoming a crucial step to future planning in cities.

A greater part of the water that has been withdrawn from the urban water supply system is returned to the hydrological system after use (purified or not) as waste water, if urban sewerage networks operate effectively. The major sources of actual consumption consist of water lost through evaporation from leaking supply and sewerage pipes, from watering plants and recreational areas, washing streets, and garden plots.

The modern trend in the development of public water supply all over the world is the construction in both large and small cities of effective centralized water supply and sewerage systems, connecting together an even greater number of buildings and populated areas. By doing so, these cities and towns will need to ensure that their municipal pumping stations are operating at peak efficiency.