How Much Water is Enough?

Article By: Audrey Durr
Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program Coordinator

Nobody wants to waste water, but how much is enough to meet our needs? The Citrus County UF/IFAS Extension Service can help you create a water budget for your household.

Our "water calculator" will generate the amount of water necessary to meet all of your household water needs for indoor and outdoor purposes.

Efficient indoor water usage is estimated at 65 gallons per person per day (or 1,950 gallons per person per month). That unassuming little showerhead or faucet may not look like a water hog, but outdated fixtures can waste approximately 3,000 gallons of water each month in a typical house built prior to 1994. Replacing an old showerhead or adding an aerator to your faucets can have a big impact on your water bill.

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 established water conservation standards for toilets, showerheads, and kitchen and bathroom faucets manufactured after January 1, 1994. The original, pre-1994 showerhead in my home put out over five gallons of water per minute. An average household can painlessly save almost 22,000 gallons of water each year simply by switching to a new, water-wise showerhead. Call the Extension Service at 352-527-5700 to receive a free "water flow bag" to test the efficiency of your fixtures.

A toilet leak can waste 100 gallons of water per day – or over 3,000 gallons of water each month. Add five (5) drops of food coloring to the tank of your toilet and don't use the toilet for 15 minutes; if color appears in the bowl, you have a silent toilet leak. The Extension Service can provide you with a free "Retrofit" brochure, detailing small repairs that you can make yourself that will save big on water.

Excessive irrigation can be the biggest water waster. The majority of a lawn's roots are found in the top six inches of the soil. The ideal amount of water to apply at one time is ½" to ¾" of water because Florida's sandy soils can typically only hold ½" of water in the top six inches of soil. When more than ¾" of water is applied, the water may rush down past the root zone where it can't be used.

To develop an irrigation budget, let's look at a 12,000 square foot lot, which after subtracting the home and the driveway, has about 6,000 square feet of irrigated area. Assuming absolutely no rainfall and weekly irrigation, less than 12,000 gallons of water would be needed for irrigation per month – anything above this amount is wasted.

All indoor and outdoor water needs for the hypothetical household above could be met with less than 16,000 gallons of water per month! However, because plant water needs (and rainfall) vary drastically throughout the year, much less water would be needed during most months. In March, for example, when turfgrass irrigation needs for the entire month are only 0.38 inches, all indoor and outdoor water needs could be met with less than 6,000 gallons of water per month.

Call the Extension Service Office to have a personalized water budget generated for your household or to request the "water flow bag" and "Retrofit" brochure.

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