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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 108 people in the building in September 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Monthly Water Usage Comparison Chart - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Monthly Water Costs - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
2017 Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Usage
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Jan 2017 - Jan 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Feb 2017 - Feb 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Mar 2017 - Mar 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Apr 2017 - Apr 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - May 2017 - May 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Jun 2017-Jun 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - July 2017 - July 2018
Green Garage Monthly Water Usage - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Per Person Water Use Compared to Industry Standard
Monthly Water Usage per Person vs Industry Standard - Jan 2017 - Jan 2018
Monthly Water Usage per Person vs Industry Standard - Feb 2017 - Feb 2018
Monthly Water Usage per Person vs Industry Standard - Mar 2017 - Mar 2018
Monthly Water Usage per Person vs Industry Standard - Apr 2017 - Apr 2018
Monthly Water Usage per Person vs Industry Standard - May 2017 - May 2018
Monthly Water Usage per Person vs Industry Standard - Jun 2017 - Jun 2018
Monthly Water Usage Comparison Chart - July 2017 - July 2018
Monthly Water Usage Comparison Chart - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Total Monthly Water Use Compared to Industry Standard
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Jan 2017 - Jan 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Feb 2017 - Feb 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Mar 2017 - Mar 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Apr 2017 - Apr 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - May 2017 - May 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Jun 2017 - Jun 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - July 2017 - July 2018
Monthly Water Use Comparison - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Monthly Water Costs
Monthly Water Costs - Jan 2017 - Jan 2018
Monthly Water Costs - Feb 2017 - Feb 2018
Monthly Water Costs - Mar 2017 - Mar 2018
Monthly Water Costs - Apr 2017 - Apr 2018
Monthly Water Costs - May 2017 - May 2018
Monthly Water Costs - Jun 2017 - Jun 2018
Monthly Water Costs - July 2017 - July 2018
Monthly Water Costs - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
Water Costs per Person
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Jan 2017 - Jan 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Feb 2017 - Feb 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Mar 2017 - Mar 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Apr 2017 - Apr 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - May 2017 - May 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Jun 2017 - Jun 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - July 2017 - July 2018
Monthly Water Costs per Person - Aug 2017 - Aug 2018
See Also