The average American family of four uses 400 gallons of water each day. How does your household compare? Using an interactive online calculator from UL.com, you can get an estimate of your daily, weekly, and annual household water consumption and learn ways to save this precious resource.
The calculator takes you through the house, asking questions about your routines in the laundry room, kitchen, bathroom, and outdoors. For example, you'll be asked whether you use a front-load washer, how many times a week you wash dishes, how long you shower and how often you take baths, and whether you wash your car at home. Then, the calculator will tell you approximately how many gallons of water your household uses each day, week, and year.
Of course, it's only an estimate and doesn't factor in every detail. For example, your household's water use might actually be lower if you've installed water-saving kitchen faucets or dual-flush toilets ... or it could be higher if you or your housemates stand in the shower longer than you reported.
We also think the calculator would be more helpful if it provided a breakdown of gallons per activity rather than just a grand total. (For water use statistics by activity, the American Water Works Association has a helpful chart.) Still, it's an enlightening – and potentially shocking – exercise, and over time you can revisit the calculator to see how changes in your routine have helped reduce your water consumption.
• Save Your Water, from Underwriters Laboratories
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There are a number of practices they don't ask about, like using a rain barrel or gray water to water the garden. I know their estimate for my household was way off the bill we get each month from our local utility.
I have an outdoor well and feel like the well is "free water" and shouldn't be counted because it doesn't pull from the water line. My house doesn't have room for a dishwasher, therefore I was irked when they told me to do my dishes in the dishwasher. I take a bath for safety reasons. Three minutes of bath water is no different than a three minute shower...it's the same volume of water. Chiding me for taking a bath over looks why. As for my car, I'm rather proud of the moss, lichen and algae. I've worked hard over the last three years to acquire such a fine specimen of "nature". (smile) The water test needs to accommodate different life styles and living conditions.