A 2007 U.S. study has found that, when couples split up, each partner hives off to consume 46 per cent more electricity and 56 per cent more water than they would have had they stayed together. American divorcees in 2009 used 2373 billion litres of water and 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricty that they wouldn't have needed had they stayed together. Divorce and relationship splits are the major contributor to the growth in number of households in the U.S.