The latest headline in the Press Democrat claims, "Santa Rosa asks residents to cut water use by 20%"
20%...of what? Today's we aim to make that goal more palatable.
According to California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), the average California resident used approximately 85 gallons, per person, per day. Water use tends to be highest in the summer months of June through September, where it averages 109 gallons per person per day and lower during the cooler and wetter months of January through March, averaging 64 gallons per person, per day.
Clearly, the summer months are swayed significantly by irrigation and landscape usage as our summer gardens take off and our sprawling green lawns already threatening to shrivel during these 90 degree May afternoons.
If we take that nice, rounded 85 gallon average per person, per day, we can explore how that factors in to our daily activities:
(in order of highest usage)
Toilet Use: daily average is approx 22.5 gallons (that's about ⅓ of your total
Dishes: daily average is approx 20 gallons
Showers: daily average is approx 17 gallons
Laundry: daily average is approx 35 gallons (for a 4 person household, so 8.75 per person)
Landscape Uses: the typical household uses approximately ⅓ of their water for landscape/outdoor purposes! Varies greatly depending on the season.
(According to a national study by the Water Research Foundation in 2016)
Shaving off 20% of your daily water usage would be approximately 17 gallons fewer per day. Can you envision where you might be able to save that from the above information? A few ideas - larger and less frequent loads of laundry, upgrading to a low flow toilet or faucet, or planting a drought tolerant landscape are all great options!
Curious what your personal or household water usage footprint is so you can set a goal? We loved this quiz: https://www.watercalculator.org/