michelle kaufmann designs

When Kevin and I received our water bill in the mail last week it came with our annual “personal water use graph”. The graph details our water usage over the course of 2007, splits it up bimonthly, and compares it to the average household usage in our area for that period. They also included a cute little graphic showing how big our water use footprint was last year compared to a typical household. I was delighted to see that our footprint was less than a forth the size of the average one in our area (though I was also a little horrified to see that the average footprint was a whopping 355 gallons a day!), which is really just due to smart choices we’ve made like installing an on-demand water heater, dual-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads, and xeriscape landscaping.

Compared against our 2006 graph, we saw that our usage was lower in 2007, which makes sense since we’ve been taking so many steps to use less water in and around the house. That doesn’t mean we’ve given up on taking a hot shower everyday; we have done a lot since 2006 to cut back on our water usage without having to sacrifice any comfort (or personal hygiene). One measure we took was install a Chillipepper recirculating heat pump under our sink. This on-demand heat pump gives us hot water at the touch of a button instead of having to turn on the faucet and let the water run until it gets hot. Another thing that helped us save water last year was that our xeriscaping plants finally took so they no longer required as much water as they did during the first 2 years.

Kevin and I are now on a mission to shrink our footprint even more for 2008! Our next water saving step is going to be incorporating a rainwater catchment system to help us use less water outdoors on our landscape. It was fascinating to see how our district estimates indoor vs. outdoor water usage. They base it on an assumption that our indoor water use is equal to the lowest bimonthly total, typically during the winter when we are not using water outside. The assumed indoor water use, depicted as a horizontal line on the graph, allows us to compare it to our outdoor water usage. We can especially see a difference during the period between May and October when, even with our xeriscaping, it looks like we used the same amount of water outside as we do inside. Scary.

But it gets even scarier for people who have lawns and other types of landscapes that require a ton of water. Most people aren’t even aware of how much water non-native, thirsty plants require and how much water goes to waste when they choose these plants for their yards. But the EPA certainly knows; it estimates that landscape irrigation accounts for about one-third of residential water use in this country or about 7 billion gallons of water everyday. 7 billion a day! That’s why we love to work with landscape architects and designers who understand the importance of water. Margie Grace of Grace Design, Tyler Manchuck and Ive Haugeland of Shades of Green, and Nick Thayer of Late Afternoon Garden Design are all super talented landscape architects who specialize in sustainable design. For more ideas on ways to save water visit our EcoPrinciple page on Water Conservation.