Activity 2.2.1 – My daily water use


Disclaimer: For this activity, I should use three of my water bill. Since my water bill is included in my rent, I do not receive water bills. For this reason, I will use my friend’s water bills.

Average the number of gallons used across all three bills

May: 2,244 Gallons of water
June: 4,489 Gallons of water
July: 5,237 Gallons of water
Average: 2,244+4,489+5,237 =12,060/3 months =4,020 gallons/month on average.

Average household water use per month for the number of people in your house

4,020/1 = 4,020 gallons/person/month

Person per day amount of water use (on average) 
         
4,020/30 =134 gallons day/person


 Name of Water 
Calculator

URL

My Friend Per Person Usage

San Antonio Water System


NA

134 gallons day/person

Water Smart San Diego County Water Authority

https://www.watersmartsd.org/water-calculator

7,080 gallon yearly/365 days = 192 gallons day/person

Chelan County Public Utility District

https://www.chelanpud.org/conservationhome/water-conservation/water-use-calculator#resultsBottom

284 gallons day/person

City of Bellingham, Washington - Residential Water Consumption Calculator

https://www.cob.org/services/utilities/pages/water-calculator.aspx


153 gallons day/person

                               
Results

From the calculation and research needed for this assignment, I discover that my friend uses around 30% less water than residents in San Antonio. I was actually surprised by the result because my friend does not really pay attention to things like water usage. He have not a huge environmental awareness. However, when I look at other water calculators, the difference between his usage and the average usage became smaller. For example, according to Water Smart San Diego County Water Authority, he uses only 15% gallons of water less than average person in San Diego area. The same happened with the Chelan County Public Utility District. My friend uses only 15% of gallons of water less than an average person in the Chelan PUD's Wenatchee service area. The last calculator does not have an average gallons day/person so it is not possible make a comparison.
Regarding the gallons day/person calculation, I had some results closer than other to the average I found from San Antonio Water System bills. The closest result is from City of Bellingham, Washington - Residential Water Consumption Calculator. It calculates only 14.4% more than the actual use. Instead, Water Smart San Diego County Water Authority calculates 45% more than the actual use. Chelan County Public Utility District was the one more distant from my results. It calculated 85.4% more than the actual use.
There can be different reason why my friend water usage differs from the water usage calculated by the 3 water calculators. Water usage vary by the season. During summer and spring people tend to use more water than the winter. However, the calculators did not mention specific season during their questions. This means that they might calculate the average water consumption based on my friend’ summer routine only.  Another reason might be related to outdoor water usage. My friend has not a normal lawn backyard. More than anything else, he has a huge patio and native plants kept in pots. However, calculators asked only about watering lawn. The difference in the water needed for irrigate a common lawn backyard and my friend backyard might be another reason of these discrepancies. Lastly, every calculator is from a region different from Texas. There might be some information related to the water usage, home efficiency and so one of specific area that differ from the one in San Antonio, Texas, creating different results in the calculation.



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