In the US the average person uses about 150 gallon per day according to the United Nations 2008 Development Report Update. This is more than twice as much as the average person in Germany, about 8 times more than the average person in China. Note that "an American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day [1]". The most recent measured data for San Mateo County show an average use of 87.1 gallon per day per person (gpd) [2], with significant differences between Water Districts, ranging from 267 gpd in Hillsborough to less than 50 gpd in South San Francisco. About 68% of the water in San Mateo County is consumed by residential use.

While the water usage in our household averages to about 50 gpd, the water bill is averaging currently to about $100 per month (including sewer charges) and has been increasing year by year in average by 10% mostly due to water fee changes. By making the simple changes listed below, we have been able to reduce our water consumption significantly.

• Installed aerators on all faucets which restrict the water flow to about 1.5 gallon per minute (gpm).
• Installed shower heads restricting the water flow to about 2.25 gpm. Available for free - courtesy to the City of Burlingame (for Burlingame residents, but other cities and water districts have similar programs).
• Checked the Irrigation system and adjusted the watering times to early morning and night according to the recommendations from [3]. At the same time adjusted the sprinkler run times, so that no water is running off during irrigation.
• Replaced the toilets in the house with high-efficiency, dual flush models. We used the $150 rebate per toilet offered by BAWSCA to install the model Caroma 305RF. Other cities even offer free replacements. Do to the reduced water usage we save about 30 cents per day, which will pay for the investment within 5-6 years.
• Replaced the washing machine with a new, energy-star certified front-loading washer from Maytag. The new washer reduce not only the number of loads per week, but also uses only 3.9 gallon per load, saving ca. 10 gallon per load or about 15 cents per week. With the energy-star rebates from PG&E and a rebate from the City of Burlingame the investment will repay itself within 5-7 years, taking the expected increase in water rates and savings in electrical energy into account.

Without impact on our lifestyle we reduced the indoor water consumption by at least 30% with the above mentioned changes. However, we still continue to monitor and reduce our water usage and are looking as well to reduce the outdoor water consumption.

Citations:
[1] UN Development Report 2008 Update
[2] Sustainable San Mateo County 2008 Indicators Report
[3] Irrigation Tutorials

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