How much water does your household use?

[Pegasus]

I've been concerned that my water bill is high so I looked up household average use for a family of 4 and found values ranging from 7,000 to 12,000 gallons per month!  I guess our 4,400 gallons per month doesn't look so bad.  So, if I'm paying close to $50 per month for water/sewer, are typical families paying 2 to 3 times that amount? Yikes!

[happi duck]

That makes me feel better!

 

Ours is often an estimated bill that catches up when the meter is read. Actual per month is probably 4-5,000 for four of us. We're almost always home too.

[MrsMommy]

Our family of seven uses about 5,200 gallons a month, which costs us about $55 a month. I guess we're pretty good at water conservation!

[Belacqua]

No clue.  Our water is not metered here.

 

Same here. We share a well with two other houses. We pay for our share of maintenance (which was unusually high this year because we needed a new generator; worth it, though, as it's nice to have at least cold water when the power is out for a few days), but not by usage.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Water costs different rates depending where you live. For us the sewer is more costly than water. Our bills are for 2 months and have been as high as $450! But last house was about $215 for 2 months. Our condo was $129 last bill for 2 months.

 

Our usage varied though and I questioned the billing company about the sudden increase in usage....and got a refund and suddenly our usage dropped on the bills. Grr

 

I have friends who pay less. I know the house had a leak somewhere. And our condo seems to be less water usage....but cost depends on where you live and how it's billed.

 

I think last month we used 5500 gal. So more than 7 CCF.

[marbel]

Well, I just happened to get my water bill today.   We used 8400 gallons last month.  That month we also put in some trees and did a lot of watering, so that is above average for us but we are never so low as 4000.   I don't know how we would do that with 4 people taking showers a day - and 2 of us do Navy-style showers.    This bill is about $100.  

 

I wonder if part of that is doing dishes by hand.  I am pretty sure we don't handwash as efficiently as a machine. 

[Desert Strawberry]

D said he doesn't know how many gallons we use, but our bill is around $70 a month for 6 people. We don't water anything, but we do a ton of laundry and wash a million dishes by hand.

[DawnM]

No idea.  We are on a well.  It isn't measured.

[prairiewindmomma]

5500-7000/month, family of six with high efficiency appliances.

 

When we have to irrigate (expansive clay soil--we must keep moisture levels steady to protect our home's foundation), we use 9000-15000 gallons.

 

Our average water bill is $80-90; during watering season it's more like $200-250.

[Zuzu822]

We are billed quarterly. I think we use around 13,000 gallons per quarter and pay $60-65.

 

We are a family of six and wash cloth diapers 3x per week, but otherwise typical use. We don't water much, but during the hottest weather the kids sometimes use the sprinkler.

 

Central NY, if that helps at all. 😀

[Cinder]

We use about 5,000-7,000 for 5 people; costs about $50-60 per month. It's really more like 6 people as one ds averages 2 showers/day. It's one of his quirks. ;)

 

We don't usually water our grass. We occasionally wash cars. We don't have a pool, not even a baby pool. No one takes baths, just showers. We have a front-load washer and run about 10-15 loads per week. We have a dishwasher that we run about once a day.

 

I think we went over 10,000 once or twice but we had laid sod in the yard so there was a good reason for the change. I think if we go over 8,000 it puts us in a higher bracket. Unfortunately the entire amount used is then billed at the higher rate. It's not higher just for anything over 8,000.

[Erin]

We have half a dozen horses, so that drives up consumption, but we're usually in the 1200-1500 gallons per month range.  (We haul water so we're extremely conservative with it)

[mommymilkies]

No idea, but water/sewer/trash collection total comes to ~35-40 each month for a family of 7 with a garden. 

[Laura Corin]

Our water is paid for at a flat rate as part of our local taxes.  I've no idea how much we use.

 

L

[KRG]

We apparently use a lot of water....  Our bill is about $60 a month for just under 10,000 gallons.

[MomtoCandJ]

No clue, we have a well also

[Venia]

About 3,300 gallons a month with 4 people and no landscaping, pool or other outdoor water usage. We are billed every two months for about $70. $60 of that is basic line charge and the rest is actual use.

 

We also live in CA where much of the state is in severe a drought. Our area fared a bit better for rain this year, but should next year be dry we may be restricted under what they call a "Stage 4 Drought" for water usage.They then set a limit of 68 gallons per day, per person. We currently only use half of that.

[SwallowTail]

We are a family of 3, w/ a garden and lawn that require watering.  In the summer, we use between 15-20 kilo gallons.  My bill in summer is often around $175/month,. up to $250, and in winter, it hovers between $105-135/month. 

[Joker]

I just received our bill today! We used just over 4,000 gallons ($53) for four people. It will double that the next few months though because of the heat and need to water the yard. Most of the year it is in the $45-$50 range.

[Prairie~Phlox]

We use a lot too I guess, 9,000/mo ~$75.

[school17777]

I am not sure how much we use, but we pay $400something a quarter.

[maize]

Looks like we average around 6000 gallons. There's something messed up with the billing system though, because the part that shows historical usage always has one bar way taller than the rest--like up at 21000 gallons. And that bar moves every month, seemingly at random. So this month the bill might show that we used a preposterous amount of water in January, but next month it might show that it was in March. Meanwhile I might have received an extra high bill in November but now November's usage shows up as normal. I keep meaning to gather old bills and take them down to the office with questions, but so far the issue just hasn't made it to the top of my priority list.