City of Grand Forks, ND
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Learn MoreWhere Your Water Goes
Household Water Usage
Do you know how much water you're using The following charts show how much water the average Grand Forks Water household uses for each activity. And don't forget, leaks and leaky fixtures, such as toilets and faucets, will consume even more water.
Water Waste Adds Up
Most of us don't think much about the dripping faucet, leaky hose, running toilet or swampy sprinkler head we may live with for months. But those continuous forms of water waste add up faster than you might think. The tables below illustrate how a tiny leak can turn into a big water bill.
The following table uses the same calculations to estimate the consumption with common household measurements.
|
Water Waste Adds Up: Common Measures |
|||
|
If a leak has a continuous flow of: |
It wastes the following number of gallons in: |
||
|
|
One Hour |
One Day |
One Year |
|
1 cup (1/16 gal) per minute |
4 |
90 |
32,850 |
|
1 pint (1/8 gal) per minute |
8 |
180 |
65,700 |
|
1 quart (1/4 gal) per minute |
15 |
360 |
131,400 |
|
2 liters (about 1/2 gal) per minute |
32 |
761 |
277,698 |
|
1 gallon per minute |
60 |
1,440 |
525,600 |
A leak measured in cups is an obvious problem that few of us would ignore. A dripping faucet is harder to measure and easier to let go “for now.” As “for now” stretches to weeks, the water waste adds up, often much faster than we imagine.
The amount of water dripping slowly from a faucet is difficult to measure. Not only do drop sizes vary, but terms like “slow drip” vary from person to person. Still, as long as a faucet is leaking, it’s wasting water. And that waste will add up. If all of Grand Forks Water Department’s single-family residential households found and fixed a one-drip-per-second leak, they would save about 82 million gallons a year.
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Water Waste Adds Up: Drips Turn Into Gallons |
||
|
If a leak has a continuous flow of: |
It wastes the following number of gallons in: |
|
|
|
One Day |
One Year |
|
5 drips in 30 seconds |
1 |
347 |
|
10 drips in 30 seconds |
1.9 |
694 |
|
15 drips in 30 seconds |
2.9 |
1,041 |
|
20 drips in 30 seconds |
3.8 |
1,389 |
|
25 drips in 30 seconds |
4.8 |
1,736 |
|
30 drips in 30 seconds |
5.7 |
2,083 |
|
35 drips in 30 seconds |
6.7 |
2,430 |
|
40 drips in 30 seconds |
7.6 |
2,777 |
|
45 drips in 30 seconds |
8.6 |
3,124 |
|
50 drips in 30 seconds |
9.5 |
3,472 |
|
55 drips in 30 seconds |
10.5 |
3,819 |
|
60 drips in 30 seconds |
11.4 |
4,166 |
