Community Corner
Majority of Our Water Use Goes to Landscaping
Most of the water we use in Santa Clara County doesn't go down the toilet; it gets sucked up by the blades of grass in your lawn.
A water conservation ordinance that went into effect in February limits landscaping options for new single- and two-family dwellings and those that are substantially rehabilitated in unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.
Read more about the ordinance in the Patch story, County to Regulate Landscaping.
Here are some watery facts for thought:
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174,000 gallons of water a year
A typical three-bedroom, single-family house with four occupants in California uses about this amount, according to the California Homebuilding Foundation’s report, “Water Use in the California Residential Home.”
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That’s 43,500 gallons per person per year, or 121 gallons a day per person.
How is it used?
- 58 percent of all water uses goes to landscaping
- 17 percent to showers
- 9 percent to faucets
- 4 percent to clothes washers
- 4 percent to toilets
(Source: The California Homebuilders Foundation )
In Santa Clara County, all residential, commercial and landscaping uses consume approximately 350,000-375,000 acre feet of water a year, according to the Santa Clara Valley Water District. An acre foot of water equals 325,851.4 gallons of water.
Of that, 59 percent or 210,000 acre feet goes to residential uses. And a majority of that goes to watering lawns, flowers and trees.
If we want to make a big impact on water use, landscaping is a good place to start.
