Water use from year to year is heavily influenced by the weather. More than half of residential water use is outdoors, and a hot, dry year can mean customers need to use a lot of water. Predicting the future needs for Denver Water's service area depends on the number of people in a house, lot size, number of commercial users and water needed for parks, among other variables.
Denver Water produces one-third of the state’s treated water supply, which is about 234,000 acre-feet per year. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons of water and is enough for about 2 ½ households for one year. Denver Water uses about 265,000 acre-feet of water a year, which is about 2 percent of all water, treated and untreated, in Colorado.
Denver Water’s total water use by category:
- 48 percent single-family homes
- 21 percent business and industry
- 17 percent multifamily homes
- 9 percent public agencies
- 5 percent unaccounted
Average residential customer’s water usage:
- 55 percent outdoor use
- 11 percent toilet
- 9 percent clothes washer
- 8 percent shower
- 7 percent leaks
- 6 percent faucet
- 2 percent other
- 1 percent bath
- 1 percent dishwasher
One strategy to meet future needs – in addition to recycling water and building new supply projects – is by conserving. Using water efficiently can stretch our supplies well into the future.