In the 1980’s the rule of thumb was that with respect to household use, each person averaged a usage amount of 70 gal per day. At the time that I first heard that figure from an agency that should know, I was shocked. In a recent conversation with a water authority manager, however, he indicated that the household usage rule of thumb is now around 100 gal per day!
Since low volume toilets are much more common now than they were in the 1980’s, many more families have front loading washing machines, and in many communities the new construction requirements are for water conserving fixtures, I can only think that people have become even more wasteful. Perhaps they’ve decided to take even longer “Hollywood Showers,” they are doing lots of light laundry loads rather than waiting until there are enough dirty clothes to do a full load, or are likewise doing many light dishwasher loads. Another possibility is the proliferation of swimming pools and hot tubs.
After writing this I got curious and checked our household usage…29 gal per person in the past year…and we water our many veggie and flower gardens. So how the heck do people use THAT much water (the old rule OR new rule of thumb)?
