Eighty Gallons

 The average American uses, on the low end, eighty gallons of water per day.

I brought up eighty gallons of water from the Hudson River, one of our major sources of water here. By ritualistically dumping it out, I show the amount we use physically. I also show this through the physical labor of the act itself. I carried over 640 pounds of water through the eight trips down to the bank, and back up.