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Our goal with water usage was to use water at a fraction of a level of a traditional commercial office building. We did this in a variety of ways, from selection of efficient plumbing fixtures to reduction of use of city water through the use of cisterns. Our data is below.
Our 2 cisterns, prior to placement. The larger cistern, 1,400 gallons, is under our parking lot, and the smaller, 500 gallons, is on top of our 3-season room. Both are fed with water coming from our roof.
Measurement Decisions
- The statistics come from our monthly City of Detroit water bills.
- Unit of measure = gallons (water dept measures in cu, where 1cu = 100 cubic feet = 728 gallons)
- 'Usage Per Person' is calculated based on the number of people that are in Businesses-in-Residence at the beginning of each month, plus the number of volunteers and paid contractors that work more than 2 days a week.
Sources of Water
- Our water comes from the City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which gets its water from the Detroit River and Lake Huron.
- Water for outside use comes from 2 cisterns, one on top of our roof, and one under our parking lot. Together, they collect about 2,000 gallons of water.
Uses of Water
- 4 Toilets (@ 1.28 gal/flush)
- 5 Sinks
- 3 Bathroom (0.5 gal/min + automated)
- 1 Kitchen
- 1 Mop-basin
- 2 Dishwasher (4 gal / load)
- 1 Shower (2.5 gal/min shower head)
- Coffee / Drinking
- Outdoor watering. We harvest the water that we use for outdoor watering in 2 cisterns (1,700 gallons total) and only use city water when the other water is exhausted. Our goal is to use no city water for outdoor use.
Water Usage Charts
There were 102 people in the building in December 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Dec 2018- Dec 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
2019 Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Usage
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Jan 2018-Jan 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Feb 2018-Feb 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Mar 2018-Mar 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Apr 2018-Apr 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - May 2018-May 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - June 2018-June 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - July 2018-July 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Aug 2018-Aug 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Sep 2018-Sep 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Oct 2018-Oct 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Nov 2018-Nov 2019
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Dec 2018- Dec 2019
Per Person Water Use Compared to Industry Standard
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Jan 2018 - Jan 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Feb 2018 - Feb 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Mar 2018 - Mar 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Apr 2018 - Apr 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - May 2018 - May 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - June 2018 - June 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - July 2018 - July 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Aug 2018 - Aug 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Sep 2018 - Sep 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Oct 2018 - Oct 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Nov 2018 - Nov 2019
Monthly Water Usage per Person Comparison - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Total Monthly Water Use Compared to Industry Standard
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Jan 2018 - Jan 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Feb 2018 - Feb 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Mar 2018 - Mar 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Apr 2018 - Apr 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - May 2018 - May 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - June 2018 - June 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - July 2018 - July 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Aug 2018 - Aug 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Sep 2018 - Sep 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Oct 2018 - Oct 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Nov 2018 - Nov 2019
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Monthly Water Costs
Monthly Water Costs - Jan 2018 - Jan 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Feb 2018 - Feb 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Mar 2018 - Mar 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Apr 2018 - Apr 2019
Monthly Water Costs - May 2018 - May 2019
Monthly Water Costs - June 2018 - June 2019
Monthly Water Costs - July 2018 - July 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Aug 2018 - Aug 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Sep 2018 - Sep 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Oct 2018 - Oct 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Nov 2018 - Nov 2019
Monthly Water Costs - Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Water Costs per Person
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Jan 2018 - Jan 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Feb 2018 - Feb 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Mar 2018 - Mar 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Apr 2018 - Apr 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - May 2018 - May 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - June 2018 - June 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - July 2018 - July 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Aug 2018 - Aug 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Sep 2018 - Sep 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Oct 2018 - Ot 2019
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Nov 2018 - Nov 2019
See Also