What is your water usage?
hchi...@hotmail.com
less water we are using in our manufactured home in Alabama than we
were in our old home in south Florida. There are a number of factors
involved, including climate, but the variations in useage bear
examining.
If you want to compare from your own water bills, a hundred cubic feet
of water is 750 gallons.
In the old home, we had a regular big old top load clothes washer,
washed some dishes by hand until the last few months there, had
regular showerheads, had the old style toilets that were flushed
whenever they were used, watered plants in the winter, had to add
water to the pool every few months, and during the summer only,
minimally used the roof sprinkler to extend the life of the roof (low
flow setting, total of about 40 min of watering a day. Water pressure
was about 60 psi.
We were hooked to city water and tried to be prudent, but not
obsessive about our water use. A low usage month was measured at
33000 gallons, with a couple months over a five year period close to 3
times that figure. Looking back, I'm astounded how much water we
used, or supposedly used, especially since we had our own irrigation
well for watering the lawn, which isn't included in those figures.
When we lived in the camper this past summer, our well could only
produce 25 gal/day and we used less than 750 gal/mo. The toilet was a
camper toilet, which might use a pint of water per flush, showers were
limited to about five minutes or less, and we had no clothes washer,
dishwasher, pool, or roof sprinkler. We did water plants, but there
weren't as many to water.
At our new home, we have a high-efficiency clothes washer, dishwasher,
1.6gpf toilets, spa tub, and we shower regularly using a low-flow
showerhead (but less than in Florida where we were sweating all the
time). Water is at about 45PSI through the regulator. We have an
1100 gal storage cistern, which gets filled about 3 times a month.
3300 gallons compared to 33000 gallons is a tenfold difference with no
pain, and the camper use of 750 gallons per month is 1/4 of that
amount. The differences are amazing, and I've become convinced that
the water saving devices are all they claim to be. Even though our
water here is essentially free, I'm tickled, since the septic system
will be that much less loaded and the costs of heating water will be
reduced.
Dawn
>I just had a chance to do some comparisons, and I'm stunned how much
>less water we are using in our manufactured home in Alabama than we
>were in our old home in south Florida. There are a number of factors
>involved, including climate, but the variations in useage bear
>examining.
>
>If you want to compare from your own water bills, a hundred cubic feet
>of water is 750 gallons.
>
for a quick second there I was very unhappy. I just got a bill in the
past couple of weeks and did the math. Used 55000 gallons of water.
I was like soooo annoyed and thinking that is way too much water we
are using. Looking at my past useage it was right in line with what
we used the last two years at this time. Then I remembered.....it is
a two month bill. Whew. 27500 is still a lot of water but not quite
so bad for a month.
Dawn, still thinking we could do better.
Paul M. Eldridge
>I just had a chance to do some comparisons, and I'm stunned how much
>less water we are using in our manufactured home in Alabama than we
>were in our old home in south Florida. There are a number of factors
>involved, including climate, but the variations in useage bear
>examining. [...]
Congrats, Harry! With our most recent statement in hand, and looking
at just this past year, we used a total of eleven cubic metres over an
86 day period ending December 20th; that works out to be 128 litres
per day or about 34 U.S. gallons/day for a two person household. Our
highest recorded usage was for the billing cycle ending August 25th --
over the course of those 83 days, we used an average of 181 litres per
day or 48 U.S. gallons. Our increased consumption can be largely
attributed to watering the garden and overnight guests. Our lowest
consumption was the 85 day stretch ending March 28th, when we used
just 82 litres per day (22 U.S. gallons/day).
Low-flow shower heads, 6 litre flush toilets, an energy and water
efficient BOSCH dishwasher and a front load washer take much of the
credit, but we're also both pretty frugal by nature so, for example,
the five litres drawn off before each shower waiting for the water to
get hot is collected in a watering can and used to flush toilets. I
also do most of our dishes by hand and the rinse water is likewise
captured and recycled for flushing.
We use so little water the city has inspected our meter twice and
replaced it once, and the meter reader has been sent back a couple
times to confirm readings. I confess part of the satisfaction of
using so little water is messing with their heads. ;-)
Cheers,
Paul
John Weiss
>
> We were hooked to city water and tried to be prudent, but not
> obsessive about our water use. A low usage month was measured at
> 33000 gallons, with a couple months over a five year period close to 3
> times that figure.
>
> 1.6gpf toilets, spa tub, and we shower regularly using a low-flow
> showerhead (but less than in Florida where we were sweating all the
> time). Water is at about 45PSI through the regulator. We have an
> 1100 gal storage cistern, which gets filled about 3 times a month.
>
> 3300 gallons compared to 33000 gallons is a tenfold difference with no
> pain,
I just looked at mine, and it averages 3938 gal/mo for the year. Low is 2625 in
Feb-Mar, and high is 6750 in Aug-Sep (when our neighbor waters the maple trees
is his "nursery annex" in our yard). So, the 2 of us alone use less than 100
gal/day -- still more than I would have guessed, until I recall how long it
takes my wife to shower... :-)
Too_Many_Tools
I know what you mean.
With a family of four, showers, hand dish washing, flushing of toilets
when necessary...we see a typical usage of 500-600 gals/month....with
no real sacrifice of quality of life.
While that may seem low, we manage our lives so if we lose our water
supply the impact of replacing it will be minimal.
If you have ever had to haul water on a long period basis you learn
quickly to conserve and reuse.
Our other utilities bills are also much smaller than our neighbors'
similar bills...being fugal is a lifestyle choice.
TMT
Gary Heston
<hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
[ ... ]
>3300 gallons compared to 33000 gallons is a tenfold difference with no
>pain, and the camper use of 750 gallons per month is 1/4 of that
>amount. The differences are amazing, and I've become convinced that
>the water saving devices are all they claim to be. Even though our
>water here is essentially free, I'm tickled, since the septic system
>will be that much less loaded and the costs of heating water will be
>reduced.
FYI, my usage between the two houses last month was 5800 gallons, with
no particular efforts at conservation.
How did things hold up to the storms this morning?
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
We live in amazing times, when one person can invent both the Internet
and global warming, then get awarded a "peace prize".
Jeff
For just myself, about 1 CCF (750 gallons). With a friend visiting about
double. With a friend visiting that does laundry every other day about 3
CCF. Old toilets and a yard that is on auto pilot for water. I do have a
small cistern for spot outdoor watering during hot dry spells.
Jeff
Dawn
wrote:
>In article <llujq35tsnr9ldgac...@4ax.com>,
> <hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> [ ... ]
>>3300 gallons compared to 33000 gallons is a tenfold difference with no
>>pain, and the camper use of 750 gallons per month is 1/4 of that
>>amount. The differences are amazing, and I've become convinced that
>>the water saving devices are all they claim to be. Even though our
>>water here is essentially free, I'm tickled, since the septic system
>>will be that much less loaded and the costs of heating water will be
>>reduced.
>
>FYI, my usage between the two houses last month was 5800 gallons, with
>no particular efforts at conservation.
>
>How did things hold up to the storms this morning?
>
>
>Gary
Gosh we use wayyyy too much water. I never thought about it except of
course during the summer. I know that our pud bills are a lot
smaller than everyone we know so thought we were doing okay.
Dawn, thinking about ways to conserve.
h
"Dawn" <lin...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:g99mq3thnbcqmt42u...@4ax.com...
Wow! We use less than 30,000 gallons a year for 2 people. The minimum water
bill is $40.00 a year for 30,000 gallons or less, and that's what we pay.
We're in upstate NY, so it's not like we ever need to water anything outside
and we don't have a pool.
George
We use ~2,000 gallons/month for two people. That includes laundry and an
automatic dishwasher.
hchi...@hotmail.com
wrote:
>In article <llujq35tsnr9ldgac...@4ax.com>,
> <hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> [ ... ]
>>3300 gallons compared to 33000 gallons is a tenfold difference with no
>>pain, and the camper use of 750 gallons per month is 1/4 of that
>>amount. The differences are amazing, and I've become convinced that
>>the water saving devices are all they claim to be. Even though our
>>water here is essentially free, I'm tickled, since the septic system
>>will be that much less loaded and the costs of heating water will be
>>reduced.
>
>FYI, my usage between the two houses last month was 5800 gallons, with
>no particular efforts at conservation.
>
>How did things hold up to the storms this morning?
>
>
>Gary
Hey Gary, haven't heard from you in a bit, nor seen you here. Did you
get the email I sent about a week ago?
We fared fine. Being below the brow of the hill does make a
difference. The greenhouse was flapping a bit, as usual, and we could
see the lighting from the cell that passed on to Nashville north of
us, and were awakened at 3 by the weather radio, and didn't get enough
sleep, but have nothing to complain about. The creek was full from
the rain, and I noticed a run-off problem that I'm going to need to
address. I also realize that I'm going to need a settling tank for
any continuous water draw from the stream. The riled up sediment had
it pretty brown. Once the major freezing time is past I want to fool
around with a ram pump I made.
Looks like Huntsville and Decatur dodged a bullet on the cell down
there. Big long quarter-mile wide path and it lifted just before
hitting Decatur.
AllEmailDeletedImmediately
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:zdednTzx3LeQpDba...@comcast.com...
we use 2k-3k/month as well. top load washer and dishwater. how the hell do
you use 33k gal of water a month unless you have a farmette? that's more
that i use in a yr.
Dawn
<der...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
>news:zdednTzx3LeQpDba...@comcast.com...
>>> for a quick second there I was very unhappy. I just got a bill in the
>>> past couple of weeks and did the math. Used 55000 gallons of water.
>>> I was like soooo annoyed and thinking that is way too much water we
>>> are using. Looking at my past useage it was right in line with what
>>> we used the last two years at this time. Then I remembered.....it is
>>> a two month bill. Whew. 27500 is still a lot of water but not quite
>>> so bad for a month.
>>> Dawn, still thinking we could do better.
>>
>> We use ~2,000 gallons/month for two people. That includes laundry and an
>> automatic dishwasher.
>
>we use 2k-3k/month as well. top load washer and dishwater. how the hell do
>you use 33k gal of water a month unless you have a farmette? that's more
>that i use in a yr.
>
Bad, bad math. I forgot a step. We use 2750 a month ave. this time
of year.
Dawn, feeling a whole lot better now.
AllEmailDeletedImmediately
yeah, but chickpea used 33k!!!
>
hchi...@hotmail.com
...and I'm still trying to figure that one out, since that was from a
fairly low bill!! I know that topping off a swimming pool can mean a
hose running for about four hours, but even that should be not much
more than a thousand gallons. There were a couple of times I had to
drain and refill the whole thing, which was over 15,000 gallons, but
that wasn't (trust me) an everyday occurence.
I'm beginning to wonder if the meter was being read at ten times the
actual amount. I think I may have to call some of the ex-neighbors
and see what their usage has been. Oh well, whatever it was, it ain't
happening now.
AllEmailDeletedImmediately
<hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ml4nq39a4icbq5hpv...@4ax.com...
if i used that much water, my bill would be at least 200.00 a mon, not
including sewer. that's assuming there's no discount for excessive usage.
Gary Heston
<hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:20:08 -0000, ghe...@hiwaay.net (Gary Heston)
>wrote:
>>How did things hold up to the storms this morning?
>Hey Gary, haven't heard from you in a bit, nor seen you here. Did you
>get the email I sent about a week ago?
I didn't think you were engaged in any major projects at the moment; have
you been building decks by yourself? :-)
Got the email, but ended up being very busy at work recently. Sorry I
haven't gotten back to you on that.
>We fared fine. Being below the brow of the hill does make a
>difference. The greenhouse was flapping a bit, as usual, and we could
>see the lighting from the cell that passed on to Nashville north of
>us, and were awakened at 3 by the weather radio, and didn't get enough
>sleep, but have nothing to complain about.
Same here; while the big cell was cruising along north of I565, I was
out back watching the lightning--it wasn't even raining on me, even
though the NEXRAD showed a wide band of precipitation. Wierd.
> The creek was full from
>the rain, and I noticed a run-off problem that I'm going to need to
>address.
That should give you a good indication of a high water mark; how far
up the guest house pilings did it get? Where was the runn-off issue?
> I also realize that I'm going to need a settling tank for
>any continuous water draw from the stream. The riled up sediment had
>it pretty brown. Once the major freezing time is past I want to fool
>around with a ram pump I made.
Perhaps a tank down by the stream? No point in pumping the sediment
uphill.
However, most of that sediment will have been washed off the surrounding
fields, and is likely going to be high in chemicals. I doubt the water
will stay cloudy for long, so a holding tank that you fill when it's
running clear might work as well.
>Looks like Huntsville and Decatur dodged a bullet on the cell down
>there. Big long quarter-mile wide path and it lifted just before
>hitting Decatur.
Yes; if that'd hit Decatur or north Huntsville, it'd have been a worse
mess than the college in Jackson, TN. Our last bad tornado was in '89,
when one went across Huntsville about two miles south of me; we had 23
fatalities from that one.
This is a good time to be pruning your peach tree, BTW.
Dawn
<der...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>> Bad, bad math. I forgot a step. We use 2750 a month ave. this time
>> of year.
>> Dawn, feeling a whole lot better now.
>
>yeah, but chickpea used 33k!!!
>>
>
Yeah, but he is a chickpea and needed to keep hydrated in the Florida
sun.
Dawn, still thinking of conserving some more.
hchi...@hotmail.com
wrote:
>I didn't think you were engaged in any major projects at the moment; have
>you been building decks by yourself? :-)
Nope. Like you, business stuff has kept me busy.
>Got the email, but ended up being very busy at work recently. Sorry I
>haven't gotten back to you on that.
Kinda figured you were swamped.
>Same here; while the big cell was cruising along north of I565, I was
>out back watching the lightning--it wasn't even raining on me, even
>though the NEXRAD showed a wide band of precipitation. Wierd.
Sometimes I think there is something to the old sky gods theories.
Contrast that with the experience I had in south Florida, where it was
raining out of a CLEAR sky. Not a cloud in sight, warm day, no
overflying airplanes or blue ice, just rain falling out of the blue.
>> The creek was full from
>>the rain, and I noticed a run-off problem that I'm going to need to
>>address.
>
>That should give you a good indication of a high water mark; how far
>up the guest house pilings did it get? Where was the runn-off issue?
Oh, the pilings are a good seven feet or more above the normal flood
stage. The water was sheeting about six inches thick over the entire
waterfall area. The runoff issue is in the area where the storm
cellar will go. Not only did the pit fill, it kept overflowing and
running down to the footer of the house. Not good, I'll probably have
to punch a hole on each side of the foundation and run a pvc pipe
along the top of the footer to have it drain out the other side.
There is no digging down, since the ledge is there, and I'd rather not
trust to electric pumps for keeping the storm cellar area dry, since
the power might go out when pumping was needed most.
>> I also realize that I'm going to need a settling tank for
>>any continuous water draw from the stream. The riled up sediment had
>>it pretty brown. Once the major freezing time is past I want to fool
>>around with a ram pump I made.
>
>Perhaps a tank down by the stream? No point in pumping the sediment
>uphill.
I might put it up about to where the ram pump or other stream powered
pump can pump it easily, and then use electric to pump from there as
needed. No money for it now anyway, it'll give me time to consider
options.
>However, most of that sediment will have been washed off the surrounding
>fields, and is likely going to be high in chemicals. I doubt the water
>will stay cloudy for long, so a holding tank that you fill when it's
>running clear might work as well.
I guess a float ball on the intake (like in a wet vac) could stop a
ram pump during high flow.
>This is a good time to be pruning your peach tree, BTW.
I'm not sure how much life is left in those, but I'll do that. I can
use the wood anyway.
Jeff
My understanding is that automatic dishwashers use less water than
what most people use hand washing dishes.
Jeff
Evelyn C. Leeper
My husband and I use about 7000 gallons every three months (or about 78
gallons/day). Obviously the size of the household has some effect on
your usage, but 27,500 gallons per month sounds ... excessive. You
might want to check your math.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Life is complex--it has real and imaginary parts. --anonymous
Paul M. Eldridge
> My understanding is that automatic dishwashers use less water than
>what most people use hand washing dishes.
>
> Jeff
Hi Jeff,
I've heard that as well and it's most likely true, but that's because
most people are not overly concerned by the amount of water they use.
My dishwasher uses 12 to 14 litres per load (~ 3.5 U.S. gallons).
Many newer dishwashers consume twice this amount and with older units
you can probably double that again. By recycling my rinse water for
other purposes, I can do a full load by hand using less than 5 litres.
I also heat my dish water in an electric kettle because if I drew hot
water from the tap, I could easily waste that much or more waiting for
it to get hot. And during the winter months, the heat from this water
can be used to help warm my home before it is released down the drain;
not so with the waste water from my dishwasher.
Cheers,
Paul
Jeff
> On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:14:17 -0500, Jeff <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote:
>
>> My understanding is that automatic dishwashers use less water than
>> what most people use hand washing dishes.
>>
>> Jeff
>
> Hi Jeff,
>
> I've heard that as well and it's most likely true, but that's because
> most people are not overly concerned by the amount of water they use.
> My dishwasher uses 12 to 14 litres per load (~ 3.5 U.S. gallons).
> Many newer dishwashers consume twice this amount and with older units
> you can probably double that again. By recycling my rinse water for
> other purposes, I can do a full load by hand using less than 5 litres.
Hi Paul,
That's pretty frugal. But even using a dishwasher every night isn't
the major reason for high water use. After all 3.5 gallons * 30 days is
only 105 gallons. With that said, I'm a hand washer.
>
> I also heat my dish water in an electric kettle because if I drew hot
> water from the tap, I could easily waste that much or more waiting for
> it to get hot. And during the winter months, the heat from this water
> can be used to help warm my home before it is released down the drain;
> not so with the waste water from my dishwasher.
I don't do that. I did insulate my hot water lines and that makes a nice
difference.
Curiously, I have taken to setting my colander over a pot to reclaim
the boiling water. Letting that cool in the sink recovers several
hundred BTUs.
I've recently seen a waste water recycling tank that reuses shower
water for flushing toilets (filters through wool). Since those are
probably the two highest water usages for those who xeriscape and don't
have a pool I think that's a great idea. Too bad it was so expensive.
Jeff
>
> Cheers,
> Paul
Paul M. Eldridge
>I don't do that. I did insulate my hot water lines and that makes a nice
>difference.
Hi Jeff,
I've insulated our hot water pipes as well, but if you seldom draw hot
water from the kitchen tap, it cools to the point where it must be
discarded anyway.
I prewash our dishes in one to two litres of cold water using a
stainless steel mixing bowl (more sanitary than plastic). As I'm
doing this, I heat another two litres in the small electric kettle for
the main wash (total electrical consumption: about 0.1 kWh). As with
the prewash, this water is discarded and the mixing bowl is given a
quick wipe. I then rise the dishes using short bursts of cold tap
water, all of which is collected in the mixing bowl for subsequent
reuse elsewhere. Most days, four or five litres is all that's
required to get the job done.
Although most folks will happily let the dishwasher do the work, I
prefer washing dishes by hand -- it's my quiet time when I get to
relax and meditate in peace. About the only time I use the dishwasher
is when we're entertaining and want to spend that time with our
guests.
> Curiously, I have taken to setting my colander over a pot to reclaim
>the boiling water. Letting that cool in the sink recovers several
>hundred BTUs.
>
> I've recently seen a waste water recycling tank that reuses shower
>water for flushing toilets (filters through wool). Since those are
>probably the two highest water usages for those who xeriscape and don't
>have a pool I think that's a great idea. Too bad it was so expensive.
I considered adding a heat recovery device to our shower drain but
since there's only two of us and we both shower along the same lines
as we do dishes, I couldn't justify the expense. Our low flow show
head has an on/off control that allows us to turn off the water as we
soap up, so a typical shower might consume 20 to 25 litres of hot
water, if that. That's about 1 kWh of heat demand and if a recovery
device could salvage 40 per cent of that, our savings would be less
than $3.00 a month. In this case, it made more sense to spend the
money on other home improvements that would provide us with far
greater return on our investment.
Cheers,
Paul
Gene S. Berkowitz
paul.e...@ns.sympatico.ca says...
> On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:04:18 -0500, Jeff <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote:
>
> >I don't do that. I did insulate my hot water lines and that makes a nice
> >difference.
>
> Hi Jeff,
>
> I've insulated our hot water pipes as well, but if you seldom draw hot
> water from the kitchen tap, it cools to the point where it must be
> discarded anyway.
Which, health-wise, is probably a good thing. Water standing in the
fixtures will contain lead leached from typical "brass" faucets.
Letting a few gallons down the drain will reduce the lead below
detectable limits.
http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/04water/html/Lead_Faucets.htm
--Gene
Paul M. Eldridge
Hi Gene,
Not to mention that since I seldom draw hot water from the kitchen
tap, the water in sitting in those lines can get a tad "skunky" over
time.
Cheers,
Paul
val189
> I just had a chance to do some comparisons, and I'm stunned how much
> less water we are using in our manufactured home in Alabama than we
> were in our old home in south Florida. There are a number of factors
> involved, including climate, but the variations in useage bear
> examining.
>
> If you want to compare from your own water bills, a hundred cubic feet
> of water is 750 gallons.
>
> pain, and the camper use of 750 gallons per month is 1/4 of that
> amount. The differences are amazing, and I've become convinced that
> the water saving devices are all they claim to be. Even though our
> water here is essentially free, I'm tickled, since the septic system
> will be that much less loaded and the costs of heating water will be
> reduced.
I get billed for two thousand gallons a month, and about twice a year,
get billed for three thousand. If away on a trip, it's always 1
thousand. My water authority assured me that if it's one drop under
the next thousand, they don't bill for it. Has to be a full thousand
gallons.
Two person household. No swimming pool, low flow shower heads, two-
choice toilets, do dishes usually with the lab method. Cars go the car
wash (not frugal but it's fast and they do a good job). Lawn is
watered from a separate well source.
I watch the water use bec. my sewer bill is linked to it. I pay $1.70
for sewer for every dollar of water bill.
Lou
"val189" <gweh...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:089ed88c-4267-48fe...@m34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
I've noticed several replies in this vein, and with all due respect, it's
bogus. The original question was what is your water USAGE, not what is your
water bill. Just because you take your car to the car wash doesn't mean
you're not using water to wash the car (though you're probably using less
than you would at home - my local car wash recycles the water). Just
because you water the lawn using a separate, non-metered well doesn't mean
you're not using water.
So come on, how about trying again? I'm sure your local car wash can give
an estimate on the amount of water they use to wash a car, and the pump on
your well must have a rating.