You may not think too much about where all of your household water use comes from. That is, until you become a rainwater ninja. Conserving water takes some creativity, but we can all do it. Here we’ve provided you a quick reference on the typical water demands of a household, kindly borrowed from the CRD and the Water Research Foundation. Where are you using most of your water?
| Water Loser | Gallons | Litres | % of Total |
| Toilet | 32.6 | 123 | 24% |
| Faucet | 27 | 102 | 20% |
| Shower | 26.9 | 102 | 20% |
| Clothes Washing | 22 | 83 | 16% |
| Leaks | 17.8 | 67 | 13% |
| Baths | 4.4 | 17 | 3% |
| Other (water softening, treatment, etc.) | 4 | 15 | 3% |
| Dishwasher | 2.2 | 8 | 2% |
| Total | 137 | 518 | 100% |
Source 2: Circle of Blue Residential Water Use
Note… this does not include irrigation and gardening, which can be substantial! Consider – a lawn or garden alone needs about 25 mm of water applied to it EVERY DAY during the summer months. This is about an one hour of leaving on one of your faucets! If you were to just sit at the kitchen sink and let it run for an hour, imagine how much water that is! Or think of it another way, a small garden that is 10’ x 20’ (3 m x 6 m) will use 120 gallons (450L) – every day! Now wouldn’t that feel better if it was that was all supplied by the water that you caught yourself? Or better yet, you installed native plant species that rely on LESS water! We think so!
But we also think there is some low hanging fruit when it comes to indoor water demand. Chase out those leaky faucets and toilets. If you don’t have a flow meter for your total house, consider getting one – it can help you figure out if there’s a leak. Consider replacing your fixtures with water conserving alternatives, when the time comes. Try and make your clothes washer and dish washer full loads and strive to keep those showers at 5 minutes (we know, we know).
Check out these links If you want to play around with some free resources to determine your own water use!