There have been some complaints from WRA customers that water usage totals are high for the summer months. Here are some things to consider.
August and September were very dry, and a lot of folks watered their lawns and gardens during that period.
Under an average water pressure for a home:
- A 1/2-inch garden hose delivers about 9 gallons of water per minute.
- The standard 5/8-inch garden hose delivers 17 gallons per minute.
- Larger hoses, such as a 3/4-inch hose, use up to 23 gallons per minute.
We are billed by cubic feet. One cubic foot is about 7.48 gallons.
If you have a standard 5/8″ hose, and you water your lawn…
- In 15 minutes, you’d use about 255 gallons (34.1 cf)
- If you water 1 time a day for 6 days during a week, you’d use 1530 gallons (204.5 cf)
- if you do that for a 4-week month, you’d use 6120 gallons (818.2 cf)
- Over two months, that’s 12240 gallons (1636.4 cf)
This doesn’t count normal, every day usage for showers, (~5 gallons/minute, according to the CF Watershed) dishes, drinking… It all adds up!
If you think your meter was read incorrectly, you can check your meter against the read value on your bill. The system flags values it thinks are erroneous, but mistakes can happen.
If you think you have a leak, then it might be worth getting it checked out.
The WRA office has toilet dye strips available to check your toilets.
Other WRA articles to help you with water problems:
How to Compare Your Water Use to Average Neighbor
Five Ways You Might Be Wasting Water Around the House