As you can see, the largest use of water is Toilets. Someone has finally built a better toilet called the flapperless toilet. The 1.6 gallon flapperless toilet uses a water tub inside the tank that can be dumped into the bowl, creating a surge of water which results in a more powerful flush than a 3.5 gallon toilet. The new toilet is relatively maintenance free since it will never need a flapper, chain, level or ball to be replaced. Also there will be no flapper to leak, which is the single largest source of leaks in toilets.
The next largest use is the Washing Machine. New front loading machines use 40% less than traditional models and do a more thorough job.
Showers are a close third in water use, thus mandated low-flow shower heads can result in 40% reduction in the volume of water used.
While the dishwasher represents only 2 % of the total, in reality it is substantially more, since the vast majority of the inside faucet use is to pre-rinse dishes before we put them into the dishwasher. The newest dishwashers have essentially combined a disposal unit
into the package with an efficient filter that is back-washed and cleaned when the water is pumped out. Thus it really is no longer necessary to pre-wash dishes and significant water efficiencies can be obtained.
It is also obvious from the pie chart above that Outdoor Irrigation is also a significant use of water, essentially a tie for 3rd place with Showers. Thus one can see that this optional use of water is usually the one that water districts select to restrict when water becomes scarce. We could hardly require that residents forego showers and washing clothes or even using the toilet, but you can see from the pie chart above that cutting back in all these areas can result in a significant reduction in water use.
However, in Northampton, the situation is more complicated. The pie chart shows how water use is distributed for the average home in Northampton.
For a number of reasons, the residents of Northampton use twice the volume of water in comparison to the average in the Houston area. As you can see from the pie chart, this additional water is used for Outdoor Irrigation. Thus in Northampton, we really have no other practical option but to restrict Outdoor Irrigation in times of a water shortage. We ask that you always take measures to reduce the volume of water used for Outdoor Irrigation year round as a way to reduce the likelihood of developing a water shortage. And, for the record, the category Outdoor Irrigation also includes swimming pool water use.
