How much water do YOU use?

[FurBall]

3000 gallons per month, 2 people => 50 gals/day/person

$25-$30 per month

[Gumby]

We (2 people) used 62 ccf over the past year, which averages to 127 gallons per day. It is virtually all domestic use, as we rarely need to water the lawn.

[TromboneAl]

75 gal/day, two people, $48/month. Plus I help paint the water tank, etc.

[mb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProspectiveBum The bad news is that we're still using 380 gallons of water per day, on average. That's down from 619 gallons per day a year ago! . We're a family of 4, in a 2800 sf suburban home with small front and back yards. We do have lawn and landscaping that we irrigate year round (not much rain here in SoCal). So, how much water do YOU use at home?

We're a family of four in Santa Clara/Silicon Valley in a single family house.

During the summer dry months we averages about 240 gallons/day. During the winter wet months I usually turn off the sprinkler system and it gets as low as 160.

A couple years ago I replaced the front lawn with California native plants and it cut my summer water useage by about 50%. They are adapted to our climate and don't need much water even during the dry summer months. It just doesn't make sense having a water hungry east coast/English style landscape in our climate.

If you are interested do a search on Las Pilitas nursery. They specialize in CA native plants have some software on their site where you can put in your zip code and it will tell you what plants are suitable for your climate.

You SoCal'ers need to start saving water because there is no way that we're going to ship any more of our NorCal Delta water south

[Sue J]

Our water is measured in hundreds of cubic feet. I googled that and found that 100 cubic feet is 748 gallons.

According to our city billing website we use an average of .42 x hcf per day, 12.6 hcf a month. So that looks like 314 gallons per day/9424 gallons per month. Wow, that's a lot. This costs us $22.62 for the water and $41.22 for the sewer charges for a total of $63.84.

There are 4 adults here, lots of showers/laundry/flushing. I run the dishwasher every night. Very little outdoor watering. We have the low flow toilets but after trying low flow shower heads we went back to NORMAL ones.

Yikes, I didn't realize how high our consumption was compared to the rest of you.

[Zathras]

Front loading washers also use a lot less water. I wouldn't recommend buying one unless you are shopping for a new washer anyways though.
You can also put 'water regulators' in faucets. Basically they just cut the amount of water that comes out of the faucet. Many people say they don't even know they are there.

[Lakedog]

Just over 1800 gallons per month or 60 gallons per day (for one person) -- minimum charge is $16.64 per month for up to 2000 gallons. Pay for water only since rural area with septic tank. My water usage (indicated by the meter/bill) seems high compared to every other place I have lived so I do wonder if the meter is correct -- no leak so that is not the issue.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue J ... but after trying low flow shower heads we went back to NORMAL ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zathras You can also put 'water regulators' in faucets. Basically they just cut the amount of water that comes out of the faucet. Many people say they don't even know they are there.

I've been unhappy with low-flow showerheads too, but spouse found these in a Miami hotel and we've upgraded our house:
Oxygenics®- Super Charge Your Shower

They cost more than the big-box models but they don't need maintenance and they won't clog up or break down.

If our tenants complain about their showers then we're upgrading them too.

[jazz4cash]

OP
Do you have the option to install a submeter? Nearly all homes in our area with irrigation systems use a submeter so you do not have to pay sewer fees on water used outside of the home. In many areas the sewer fees per gal are higher than the supply fees. In our case 60% of the bill is the sewer fee. We looked into it and the payback was 3-4 yrs, but would be shorter if we used an irrigation system.

Our water utility advises "typical" consumption is 70 gal/day/person. We range from 65-80 gal/person/ day (more in the summer due to watering). We have .5 acre but only water a small portion in the front. Two adults and 2.5 grown kids, no high tech watersaving appliances and everybody does thier own individual small laundry loads (yikes!).

[FUEGO]

We use about 26 gallons per person per day with four of us in the house (2 are kids under age 5).

Never water the lawn - the 49" of annual rainfall takes care of the weeds' watering needs.

We run the dishwasher once a week, use paper plates a lot, and do maybe 5 loads of laundry per week. Nothing to conserve really, other than the typical low flow toilets, turning water off when brushing teeth, shaving, etc.

[Ronstar]

I don't know how much well water I'm using. FWIW, engineers estimate 100 gals per day per person for water consumption and sewage treatment plant flows.

[Rambler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I've been unhappy with low-flow showerheads too, but spouse found these in a Miami hotel and we've upgraded our house: Oxygenics®- Super Charge Your Shower They cost more than the big-box models but they don't need maintenance and they won't clog up or break down. If our tenants complain about their showers then we're upgrading them too.

We were also very unhappy with the low flow heads, and found the Oxygenics. The low flow heads didn't put out enough and the tankless water heaters would shut off for a few seconds during a shower...talk about a rude awakening. The Oxygenics are low flow, but seem to be a bit higher flow than the minimalist heads we had, and the flow is sufficient to keep the tankless heaters lit.　They are also a great shower...our whole family likes them.

Don't know how much water we use (in the states we have a well and septic, here DW takes care of the bills and I am clueless). Kinda get the feeling its a lot.

R

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar I don't know how much well water I'm using. FWIW, engineers estimate 100 gals per day per person for water consumption and sewage treatment plant flows.

I think that rule of thumb includes all ancillary water uses (like irrigation) and also includes a fudge factor to account for water that the household uses outside the home (like a small fractional share of the retail and service businesses that the extra household would warrant). And it is probably bumped up a bit to provide a factor of safety in designing water/sewer plant capacities and future forecasts of capacity needs. Sanitary sewer capacity is typically less than that of freshwater supply capacity since a lot of water is used in irrigation, car washing, etc and isn't returned to the sanitary sewer system.

At least I believe that is still the national rule of thumb and the rule in my local jurisdiction.

[HFWR]

4020 gals in October

[haha]

My main water use is cleansing my manhood. Takes a lot.

Ha

[segfault]

~2000 gallons a month, which runs around $15. I live alone and don't water the lawn, so it's all personal usage. I have a top-loading washer.

[FIRE'd@51]

I have no idea how much water I use - I get my water from a well.

So I don't have monthly water bills. However, I do have expenses associated with pumping system maintenance, water filters, PH maintenance, etc., but these seem to be considerable less than the figures I am seeing posted here.

Oh and BTW, the water tastes a lot better than the municipal water.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl 75 gal/day, two people, $48/month. Plus I help paint the water tank, etc.

Al, that is GREAT!! I think your water usage is the lowest, or one of the lowest per person on this thread.

Your expense is higher than some, but that is probably just regional.

[TromboneAl]

We don't do anything special to conserve water, except that we have a low-flow head on our shower. Perhaps it's because we don't do any plant watering.

We use a well that's shared by about 20 houses.

[d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Al, that is GREAT!! I think your water usage is the lowest, or one of the lowest per person on this thread.

not so fast! most of last year my usage was one hundred cubic feet per month, about 750 gals, 25 gals/day. during that time i was mindful of my use, challenged to see how low i could get it, and more importantly was living alone. have some house quests now, but the last bill was only 2 hundred cubic feet, 50 gals/day.