How much water do YOU use?

[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]

... but after trying low flow shower heads we went back to NORMAL ones.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[W2R]

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.

Excellent!! This is inspiring.

 

[HFWR]

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

Ha

Cleanliness is next to Godliness...

 

[nvestysly]

Wow - Where is All the Water Going!

I can't believe some of the numbers I see in this post! I realize many of the amounts include irrigation and that is a significant user. But anything more than 50 gallons/person/day seems excessive.

My wife and I average 36 gallons/day/person. When I tally the number every few months I account for days we were on vacation and days when we have guests. We have a low flow shower head, front loading washer, we let it mellow if it's yellow, we very seldom us the dish washer, and we use the condensate from our air conditioner for watering outdoor plants.

I'm considering adding a recirculating pump to our plumbing system so we don't waste water waiting for the shower to water to become warm. You simply activate the pump a few moments before you take a shower so the pump recirculates the water in the lines and you don't waste water by letting it go down the drain. I think waiting for warm water at the shower accounts for approximately 15% of our water usage.

We have an RV that is self contained so we know how much water comes in and how much goes out. In the RV we use 3.75 gallons/person/day. We don't have a clothes washer in the RV, and the hot water heater is right next to the shower so that's instant. RV toilets use very little water.

Lucius

 

[whr19606]

Water Usage

My Wife and I live in a 2,400 sq. ft. home about 40 miles NW of Phila. We use a washer, dishwasher, and water softener, but not to excess. No water used for gardening or lawn. Between us we use about 220 gpd. Our monthly water bill averages just about $60.00 for 6,600 gallons. Our water company is Pennsylvania-American Water Company (foreign owned, but I love the irony of their name). I was amazed that so many other people pay so much less than us and yet use more water than we do.

 

[Dreamweaver]

My wife and I average 36 gallons/day/person. When I tally the number every few months I account for days we were on vacation and days when we have guests. We have a low flow shower head, front loading washer, we let it mellow if it's yellow, we very seldom us the dish washer, and we use the condensate from our air conditioner for watering outdoor plants.

I'm considering adding a recirculating pump to our plumbing system so we don't waste water waiting for the shower to water to become warm. You simply activate the pump a few moments before you take a shower so the pump recirculates the water in the lines and you don't waste water by letting it go down the drain. I think waiting for warm water at the shower accounts for approximately 15% of our water usage.

Is this to "go green" and be water friendly, or to save money on the water bill? I have a hard imagining the lengths you go to result in a rewarding amount of financial savings all by itself.

 

[Khan]

I have noticed I use more water in cold weather, as I wait for it to warm up. In summer I just wash hands, face in cold water.

 

[teejayevans]

115 gallons per day on average, 2500 sq. ft. house in suburbia, 2 people. Monthly water bill: $7.50 on average.

Approx. 1.5 gals per day, 1 person, living on a boat.
Also use no electricity, I have solar panels, and have used about 75
gallons of diesel this past year, I mostly sail.
I should get a reward from greenpeace ;-)
TJ

 

[Urchina]

I have no idea how much water we use because, get this, we only have ONE water meter for 45 residences. When they put our condos in they just gave us one water meter for 9 buildings.

As you can imagine, this is not conducive to conservation. We try to conserve because it's important (our area averages 17 inches of rainfall a year, mostly between November and March), but we have no way of knowing if our efforts make any difference.

We looked into installing submeters for each building/unit but it would be ridiculously expensive due to the way the complex has been designed. Forget it.

 

[JohnP]

Our water bills indicate that for the past few years, we've used about 150 gal/day. In this neck of the woods, 150 gal/day results in a $60/mo water/sewer bill that is roughly $20 for water and the rest bookkept under sewer.

We're anticipating we will drop to 100 gal/day since DS completed his BS degree in Elect Engineering, got a job, and moved out in Sept...

nvestsly and Dreamweaver... Last year I looked into using a circulator pump to automate the process of getting hot water to our main shower. It seemed to take forever to get hot water out of the showerhead. I also thought it was wasteful when either of us would start the water in the shower and then get tied up on some other task while hot water was gushing out of the showerhead. One choice is to have a timed circulation of hot water directly to the shower; this requires a separate insulated return pipe from the shower back to the water heater as well as a timed circulator pump. I decided to go for a special circulator pump installed under DWs sink closest to our shower. Both types can cost $500 and up when installed by a plumber which caused me to decide to look for alternate sources. I looked on Ebay and discovered a supply of special circulator pumps at a delivered price of about $70. I bought a couple hoses, fittings and a doorbell switch and have had hot water at the showerhead in less than two minutes. The circulator pump turns on when I hit the doorbell switch and pumps water until there is hot water at the sink. Installation details at
http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/102-140.pdf .

After a year of using this we are pleased with the results but I cannot see any difference in our water usage... so I think that any benefits are in the satisfaction of having another efficient device.

JohnP

 

[FANOFJESUS]

Approx. 1.5 gals per day, 1 person, living on a boat.
Also use no electricity, I have solar panels, and have used about 75
gallons of diesel this past year, I mostly sail.
I should get a reward from greenpeace ;-)
TJ

That must be one quick shower.