# Water Usage - How Low Do You Go?



## vgrund (Dec 27, 2006)

We average about 120 gallons per day at my house (2 adults and 2 very young children).  I think that is quite good.  

How about you?

Victor


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## precaud (Dec 27, 2006)

Consistently around 500 gallons per month, one person. I do shower mostly at the health club, though...


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## vgrund (Dec 27, 2006)

Very impressive.  The average American uses about 110 gallons per day (source: http://www.engr.uga.edu/service/extension/publications/c819-1.html).


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## wahoowad (Dec 27, 2006)

123 gallons a day this past billing cycle. Usually I am lower, like 100 or so.

Just me and her. You are doing pretty good with that crew!


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## vgrund (Dec 27, 2006)

Thanks.  We have a front loading washer, a miser dishwasher, and very low-flow showerheads.  We're on a well and we have a septic system.  Conserving water saves me $$ pumping and heating it, and it reduces hydraulic load on the septic system.  

My water softener recycles when it reaches 0% softening capacity or when 14 days have passed since the last regeneration.  I've never seen it recycle due to low capacity.  I'd set it to regenerate at 3 or 4 weeks but my softener dealer urged me to go no longer than two weeks.  It is supposed to prevent bacteria from building up on the resin beads.   My brine tank needs refilling maybe once a year, but I do it every 6 months just to keep size of the job manageable.  

Victor


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## Elderthewelder (Dec 27, 2006)

no idea, I have no meter at my house, nor does anyone in our neighborhood. When I bought the house 8 years ago the city billed us around $90 every 2 months for water/sewer, now it is $117 every 2 months for water/sewer. I can use as much water as I want, have to pay the natural gas to heat it if I want it hot


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## Corey (Dec 28, 2006)

I guess we average about 5,000 per month - which is about 80gal per person per day.  Much like electricity, I don't know where it all goes!  We have low flow shower heads, low flush toilets, etc.  I guess the biggest guzzler is washing.  We do seem to dirty up clothes fast and have to get them clean!

Corey


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## tutu_sue (Dec 28, 2006)

The two of us used 3,200 gallons last quarter.  That's 35 gallons per day?  Seems kind of low, doesn't it? Our water/sewer bills are ridiculously high so we're extra careful.  Runs about $140 to $150 per quarter.  Since we moved in we have done all we can to reduce our water usage including replacing with new high efficiency washer, dishwasher, toilets, faucets, shower heads.


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## Elderthewelder (Dec 28, 2006)

tutu_sue said:
			
		

> The two of us used 3,200 gallons last quarter.  That's 35 gallons per day?  Seems kind of low, doesn't it? Our water/sewer bills are ridiculously high so we're extra careful.  Runs about $140 to $150 per quarter.  Since we moved in we have done all we can to reduce our water usage including replacing with new high efficiency washer, dishwasher, toilets, faucets, shower heads.



so you get billed every 3 months? if it's $150 for 3 months ($50 per month) thats cheaper than my $117 for 2 month set price bill for water / sewer


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## vgrund (Dec 28, 2006)

In my last house, in Massachusetts, I recall one quarter getting a $550 water bill (MWRA district, still paying to clean up the bay).  However that included watering a very tiny yard with in-ground sprinklers.   I often appreciate the fact that I have a water well in New Hampshire.  Since we have a septic it's not like we're consuming much of anything.  We borrow it for a while and it goes back into the ground.  This appeals to my green instincts.

Victor


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## Mike Wilson (Dec 28, 2006)

I have no idea how much water we use... we have a well.  The water filtration & softening system is set to cycle every 5000 gallons, but I don't even know how often it goes off, its programmed to happen at 2:00 AM.  I can tell you this though... in the summer, with 12 zones of sprinkler system running for 3 hours per day, I bet its a LOT.  :gulp: 

-- Mike


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## jjbaer (Dec 28, 2006)

Might want to clarify the question...many peoples "water bills" are really combined water AND sewer rates!

I live near Dayton Ohio and we get billed every 3 months and it's a combined bill.  My average usage for any three-month period between Sep-May is about 1800 cubic feet of water used in three months (150 gallons/day for my wife and I).  I just got my Sep-Dec water/sewer bill the other day and I used about  1600 cubic feet of water over this 3 month period (133 gallons/day).  My bill was $39 for water and $68 for sewer for this 3 month period for an average of $36/month for water and sewer combined.  In the summer period (Jun - Aug) it spikes to about $140/3-month period for water and sewer

FYI:  watering lawns consumes HUGE amounts of water......an open hose flows about 4 gallons per minute and at that rate it takes about 3 hours to consume 100 cubic feet of water.  SO, in my example where I use 1600 cubic feet in 3 months, that could easily double if I were to water only about 30 min per day (30 min per day over 3 months is 45 hours of running the hose which is about 1500 cubic feet of water which doubles the water used)!


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## jjbaer (Dec 28, 2006)

Just thought of another way to reduce your water/sewer bill.  If you look at your bill, they really hit you for "sewer" charges.  They "assume" that all the water you use is for inside the home use and that it all goes through the sewers and gets processed, hence they charge sewer rates based on the total amount of water you use.  However, when you water the lawn, you use huge amounts of water that DON'T go into the sewer system yet they charge you for water rates AND sewer rates on this water used to wash cars, water lawns and for other outside activities that DON'T go into the sewer system.

To prevent this you can do one of two things:  1) get a second (separate) meter used only for outside water and you'll only get billed for water rates on water used from this meter or 2) dig a well and use well water for outside usage in which case you'll won't get billed for water or sewer rates on water used from this source.


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## tutu_sue (Dec 28, 2006)

Yeah, in the town we moved from, we were used to paying $35 per quarter for water.  

If I told you what we pay for property taxes, you would surely gasp, unless you're familiar with the taxes in NJ - ridiculous!!


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## jjbaer (Dec 28, 2006)

tutu_sue said:
			
		

> Yeah, in the town we moved from, we were used to paying $35 per quarter for water.
> 
> If I told you what we pay for property taxes, you would surely gasp, unless you're familiar with the taxes in NJ - ridiculous!!



Ok...enlighten me about NJ and taxes.  My home in Ohio is a ranch style, about 1,700 sq foot and is on a 0.75 acre lot in the city within 200 feet of a large 60 acre park and houses MUCH bigger and MUCH MORE expensive than mine was (mine was about $140,000 7 years ago) and my taxes are now $2,100/year.  What are yours and for what size house/lot?


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## begreen (Dec 28, 2006)

Our water comes from a small water system that has  tiered usage pricing. Use a lot, pay a lot. We invested right away in low flow shower heads, a water-conserving toilet and a new, front-load washer. As a family of four we averaged 115/day. In the summertime, when the gardens are cranking away, it's double that amount. Some of this is lifestyle, we take quick showers, wear clothes for one more day, recycle water when possible and let it mellow if it's yellow.


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## vgrund (Dec 28, 2006)

I'll bet NH will rival many jurisdictions.  We have no sales or income taxes.  Property tax is the primary vehicle for funding government.  However there are some places in MA that reach NH property tax levels (Lexington comes to mind), and those poor folks have sales and income taxes on top of it.

When I was in MA my water bill was a combined bill.  Sewer was 50% of it. 

Victor


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## vgrund (Dec 28, 2006)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> Our water comes from a small water system that has  tiered usage pricing. Use a lot, pay a lot. We invested right away in low flow shower heads, a water-conserving toilet and a new, front-load washer. As a family of four we averaged 115/day. In the summertime, when the gardens are cranking away, it's double that amount. Some of this is lifestyle, we take quick showers, wear clothes for one more day, recycle water when possible and let it mellow if it's yellow.



Do you at least turn your underwear inside out on day 2?


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## tutu_sue (Dec 28, 2006)

Our lot is 131 ft. x 176 ft.  The house is just under 2,500 sq. ft..  House and lot are assessed at $171.000.  Our property taxes are $8,200 year.

Oh and they tacked $72 to our taxes for the wood stove we put in last year.


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## jjbaer (Dec 28, 2006)

tutu_sue said:
			
		

> Our lot is 131 ft. x 176 ft.  The house is just under 2,500 sq. ft..  House and lot are assessed at $171.000.  Our property taxes are $8,200 year.
> 
> Oh and they tacked $72 to our taxes for the wood stove we put in last year.



A guy 4 houses from me has a 5,000 square foot house he bought in 2003 for $519,000.  It has an in-ground pool and it all sits on one-half an acre and he pays $8500/year in taxes.


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## Mike Wilson (Dec 29, 2006)

Well, I don't know about NJ, or NH, or anywhere else, but I can tell you this... so far none of the annual tax numbers posted above come close to half of what we have to pay here...  and I don't have the nicest house on the road.  

They say we have a nice school system... well, we sure as hell better have, because they spend more per student than I paid for my doctorate.  Good Grief...  how the hell did anyone over the age of 30 ever grow up to be literate without the super-school-systems of today???

-- Mike


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## jjbaer (Dec 29, 2006)

Mike Wilson said:
			
		

> Well, I don't know about NJ, or NH, or anywhere else, but I can tell you this... so far none of the annual tax numbers posted above come close to half of what we have to pay here...  and I don't have the nicest house on the road.
> 
> They say we have a nice school system... well, we sure as hell better have, because they spend more per student than I paid for my doctorate.  Good Grief...  how the hell did anyone over the age of 30 ever grow up to be literate without the super-school-systems of today???
> 
> -- Mike



Mike,

You telling us that your annual property taxes on your home exceed $17,000?


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## Mike Wilson (Dec 29, 2006)

Yep, and then some. And the disgusting part is, that's not uncommon around here, at all.  We have plenty of homes taxed from 20-25K.    Not sure what the "average" home is taxed at around here, but it is definitely somewhere between 14 and 15K, especially with that shiny new school they are building, and the $39MM bond they took out to pay for it... and who knows HOW much water the school is going to use.   :ahhh:
And they wonder why so few of the kids from around here can afford to move back in and buy a home for their new families once they graduate college.

-- Mike


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## jabush (Dec 29, 2006)

castiron said:
			
		

> Just thought of another way to reduce your water/sewer bill.  If you look at your bill, they really hit you for "sewer" charges.  They "assume" that all the water you use is for inside the home use and that it all goes through the sewers and gets processed, hence they charge sewer rates based on the total amount of water you use.  However, when you water the lawn, you use huge amounts of water that DON'T go into the sewer system yet they charge you for water rates AND sewer rates on this water used to wash cars, water lawns and for other outside activities that DON'T go into the sewer system.
> 
> To prevent this you can do one of two things:  1) get a second (separate) meter used only for outside water and you'll only get billed for water rates on water used from this meter or 2) dig a well and use well water for outside usage in which case you'll won't get billed for water or sewer rates on water used from this source.



Or you can build yourself a couple rain barrells....


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## vgrund (Dec 29, 2006)

Rain collection is a very effective form of water conservation for gardens and landscaping.  If I didn't have a well and or had concerns about drawing too much from it, I'd certainly look into it.


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## vgrund (Dec 29, 2006)

FWIW, I just looked it up.  My tax rate is $18.83 per thousand of assessed value.  Assessed value can deviate from market in many places, but NH does assessments very frequently (sometimes even with mandatory inside inspections) and I believe my 2006 assessment is very close to market value.  I feel for those who are paying even more!


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## velvetfoot (Dec 29, 2006)

The house we've been in for a year also is on a well.  Did you install a water meter or did it come with the place?  I'd have a tough time justifying the cost (what with all the other knick-knacks I've been getting of late  )


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## CountryGal (Dec 29, 2006)

We replaced our toilet with a Flushmate equipped toilet and no more jiggling the handle and wasting water.  And, the powerful flush solves the low water toilet multiple flush situation...and it keeps the toilet much cleaner.  

I never understood how you saved water with a low volume water toilet when many times you had to flush more than once.  

You can go to their website (flushmate.com) and find a dealer and they are in several manufacturer's toilets.  We got the Gerber.


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## wahoowad (Dec 29, 2006)

I have two elderly (95+) aunts, each has a funny little sign in their bathrooms saying "Save water, shower with a friend."

No, Dylan, I never took them up on it


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## struggle (Dec 29, 2006)

CountryGal said:
			
		

> We replaced our toilet with a Flushmate equipped toilet and no more jiggling the handle and wasting water.  And, the powerful flush solves the low water toilet multiple flush situation...and it keeps the toilet much cleaner.
> 
> I never understood how you saved water with a low volume water toilet when many times you had to flush more than once.
> 
> You can go to their website (flushmate.com) and find a dealer and they are in several manufacturer's toilets.  We got the Gerber.



I have one of those power flush toliets in the basement(not the uplifting one but the normal type). YOu do not want to have any loose clothing on you when you tip that handle. It might take you in! 

The draw back to it is it is loud. I replaced the master bath one with a Kohler toliet and have been very happy with how it operates for low flow. Never have had to two flush it and no noise. The newer toliets are much better than they were a few years ago. 

AS for taxes we have a 100x150 corner lot about 1,500 sq ft in a small town, sewer,curbs, local school and our taxes are $2,100. 

Our water usage this last month was 129 gallons per day for a family of four.


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## vgrund (Dec 31, 2006)

velvetfoot said:
			
		

> The house we've been in for a year also is on a well.  Did you install a water meter or did it come with the place?  I'd have a tough time justifying the cost (what with all the other knick-knacks I've been getting of late  )



I installed it in the form of a demand-based water softener (meter determines how much water has been used and when to regenerate).  It has a statistics feature on the panel that displays daily, average daily, and weekly water usage.  Our outside water bypasses the softener, so I can't track that.  Out of curiosity I did explore adding a meter so I could get an idea of how many gallons go outside in summer.  It was a considerable expense so I rejected that idea.  

Victor


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## vgrund (Dec 31, 2006)

wahoowad said:
			
		

> I have two elderly (95+) aunts, each has a funny little sign in their bathrooms saying "Save water, shower with a friend."
> 
> No, Dylan, I never took them up on it



That is Standard Operating Procedure in our master bath.  Hey, we all have to do our part to conserve!

Victor


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## vgrund (Dec 31, 2006)

struggle said:
			
		

> CountryGal said:
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I agree.  My last house had absolutely awful toilets.  Luckily my current house has great ones that actually work (and they are still low-flow).  Some of the newest toilets work great without "power flush" features that will suck the eyes out of a parrot and make a lot of noise.  It has to do with the shape and coating of the drain.  My toilets are like this.  

Those flush-against-gravity toilets scare me.  They seem like a problem waiting to happen.  A very messy, stinky problem.

There's something about most homes in New England (that I've seen - limited experience so chime in guys).  The main drain is usually chest level in the basement.  I don't get that.  It means the furnace and AC need a condensate pump (which require maintenance and will eventually fail) and it means floor drains are out of the question.

Victor


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## DavidV (Jan 1, 2007)

I have no idea.  3 kids 2 adults.  animals, butt load of laundrey.  ....only thing positive is that my pool almost never requires water.  I think we didn't put 1000 gallons in it each of the last two years.  Usually I'm putting water out of it.


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## begreen (Jan 2, 2007)

edit - duped somehow


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## begreen (Jan 2, 2007)

vgrund said:
			
		

> BeGreen said:
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Underwear? What's that? We just run around naked all day.


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## smirnov3 (Jan 5, 2007)

WE use 88 gal a day (two adults, 2 kids). We have the old-fashioned toilets that flush like the Niagra falls, but we put (empty) pickle jars in the tank to reduce the amount of water used, and, like BeGreen, we let it mellow if it's yellow (my wife grew up in California during the drought)


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## kevinmoelk (Jan 5, 2007)

Not sure how much water I use.  Domestic water is on a well and no meter.  I do pay for irrigation.  That's $89 a year for my one acre.  Lots of orchards around here, and I don't know if they pay the same per share as I do, but there's one orchard company with 3000 acres here... that would be 267,000 a year!  Glad not to have that water bill.


-Kevin


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## bruce56bb (Jan 9, 2007)

212 per day for our family of 5.


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## velvetfoot (Jan 9, 2007)

vgrund,
I didn't think about checking the water softener.
I don't think it's as sophisticated as yours, but I think it does count gallons.
I'll have to check it out. Thanks.


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## vgrund (Jan 12, 2007)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> vgrund said:
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BeGreen,

You might want to follow this line of research.  http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/070105_nanofabric.html

LOL.

Victor


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## MountainStoveGuy (Jan 13, 2007)

we arent as carfull as we should be, we pay a flat rate for water. We also have a RO filter that rejects about 75% of the water going through it.


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## begreen (Jan 13, 2007)

vgrund said:
			
		

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That's funny!  :lol:


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