Water Usage Statistics
return to Measurement Pages
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.
Contents
- 1 Measurement Decisions
- 2 Sources of Water
- 3 Uses of Water
- 4 Current 2023 Water Usage Charts
- 5 November 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 6 October 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 7 September 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 8 August 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 9 July 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 10 May 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 11 April 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
- 12 See Also
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.
Current 2023 Water Usage Charts
Current Charts: There were 79 people in the building in Dec 2023
- Studies show water usage per person per month in office space is between 300-500 gallons, so we are using about 1/10th of the water typically used in office buildings with similar numbers of people. sources: US Department of Energy Federal Office Building Water Efficiency Report and North Carolina Division of Water Quality
November 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
October 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
September 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
August 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
July 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
May 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
April 2023 Monthly Water Usage Charts
Monthly Water Use in gallons, Apr 2023
Monthly Water Use vs. Industry Standard
Monthly Water Costs
Water Costs per Person
Water Use per Person vs Industry Standard
