Is it true that using the dishwasher uses less water than washing by hand?

It depends if you try to conserve water when washing by hand.Is it true that using the dishwasher uses less water than washing by hand?
Yes, if you run a full load of dishes.





Conserving water when washing by hand usually means ';rinsing'; the dishes in a sink full of standing water. I put ';rinsing'; in quotes because doing this is an excellent way to keep your dishes constantly filthy and coated in noxious bacteria. The first dish you rinse off leaves soap, food particles, and bacteria in the rinse water; the crap you rinse off every dish will be deposited on every dish after that. (If there weren't crap to rinse off, you wouldn't have to rinse. And yes, soap is dirt and can carry bacteria.)





For safety's sake you must always rinse in copious hot RUNNING water when washing by hand, and *that* is what causes handwashing to use up so much water.Is it true that using the dishwasher uses less water than washing by hand?
Yes, definitely.





Washing by hand requires each dish to be washed individually whereas dishwashers are designed to be efficient and can clean everything in one cycle.





electricity is a different story....