A Tale of Four Households

Below is a comparison of water use among four Denver Water single-family residential accounts. The first two accounts are based on historic data from Denver Water. The second two are hypothetical. For comparisons sake all accounts were assumed to be demographically identical with 2.7 people and a 8,692 square foot lot of which 4346 sq. ft. are landscaped.

	Average 1994 Denver Water Residential Account	Average 2001* Denver Water Residential Account	Residential Account With 10% Conservation	Residential Account With Maximum Conservation
High summer water consumption	780 gallons/day	526 gallons/day	473 gallons/day	317 gallons/day
Low winter water consumption	221 gallons/day	166 gallons/day	149 gallons/day	110 gallons/day
Annual water consumption	152,000 gallons	132,000 gallons	118,800 gallons	78,000 gallons
Gallons per toilet flush	4.50 gpf	3.84 gpf	3.84 gpf	1.10 gpf
Gallons/minute showering	4.0 gpm	2.4 gpm	2.4 gpm	2.4 gpm
Average shower duration	8 minutes	8 minutes	6 minutes	4 minutes
Gallons per laundry load	45 gallons	40 gallons	40 gallons**	20 gallons
Type of landscape	90% of yard is Kentucky bluegrass lawn, remainder is flower beds and shrubs. 2 mature trees	90% of yard is Kentucky bluegrass lawn, remainder is flower beds and shrubs. 2 mature trees	90% of yard is Kentucky bluegrass lawn, remainder is flower beds and shrubs. 2 mature trees	35% of yard is buffalograss lawn, remainder is xeric flower beds, shrubs and groundcovers. 2 mature trees
Hours spent per week on landscape maintenance	1.5 hours wk, 5 hrs once/year	1.5 hours wk, 5 hrs once/year	1.5 hours wk, 5 hrs once/year	1.5 hours wk, 1/2 hr once/year
Method of irrigation	Automatic sprinkler system - no rainfall sensor installed	Automatic sprinkler system - no rainfall sensor installed	Automatic sprinkler system - adjusted to proper rate using Run-time Scheduler	Manual irrigation (hose dragger)
Total water applied during 26-week growing season	82,108 gallons	71,280 gallons	64,152 gallons	37,767 gallons

* Consumption numbers for 2002, 2003, & 2004 are lower on average, because of consumer efforts to conserve in response to the drought.
** Washing only full loads results in a 10% reduction in the number of loads.