how much water storage do I need

[speaker wire]

i am thinking about moving to a property with no water .

my question is how much water does a family of five use while hooked to pubic water supply.

i will reuse the grey water for the toilet and plants and what ever i can

 

[Volvo farmer]

A family of five? I say easilly 3000 gallons/month in normal circumstances. You could use much less or much more depending on your habits. You can never have too much storage. I will also be hauling water and I've got 3000 gallons of storage but I wish I had 5000 gallons.

[zap]

Volvo you've got no well there? Was your acreage not enough for a well or is it just a $ issue? btw how is the house?

[wdyasq]

This is one of those questions like what size tires does my car need.  BTW it is _(insert color).  

I am billed for 2000 gallon minimum a month.  I use about 900 gallons a month.  1 person, single and an old toilet that sounds like a commercial for Niagra Falls when it FLUSHES.  I use more water in a day than I used for a week when I lived on a boat and carried each precious gallon on board.

Let us look at the 'family of 5'.  If they are more females I'll bet the consumption is higher than a higher male ratio.  If they are children they will need to be taught conservation measures.  If the water cost in the city was $3/m 'three dollars a thousand', they maight us a certain amount.  Raise the cost to $3 a hundred and take the water bill out of their allowance, I'll bet the amount will change by a large factor.

What you have failed ot mention is the climate conditions.  How much rain can you capture? How often does it rain? What is the long average dry spell.  Will you get upset when an extreem dry spell hits - 8 months here - and you have to haul water.  

So - do a bit of homework and research.  Just a number to start with, an inch of rain on a square foot of roof yields ~.6 gallon.

Ron

[GaryGary]

Hi,

Just one more data point for you:

In one of his book "The Natural House", Dan Chiras reports that his family of three uses 50 gallons per day.  He says that this is with a fair bit of effort to reduce water consumption to a low level.   I guess that would be (5/3)(50)(30) = 2500 gallons per month for a family of 5.

A link I saved on rain water catchment:

http://www.gdrc.org/uem/water/rainwater/introduction.html

Gary

[scottsAI]

According to my water softener I use 120gal/day for 3 adults.

When I had 4, 2 adults, 2 children (teens) 165 to 195gal/day.

When the children were babies, the water use was 225gal/day.

So what are you doing? The amount of water you need will depend.

Have fun,

Scott.

[Volvo farmer]

I could drill a well, and plan to at some time in the future. Neighbors actually got water at less than 100'. It's a money issue at the moment. House is moving along, getting wired for 120V next week and I just bought a bunch of t&g aspen from a local mill to do the vaulted ceiling.  

[Kwazai]

don't remember where I snagged this at- its pretty close (depends a lot on whether your a family of two with two small kids or two with two teenagers). I figured I'd need 200 gallon per week just to flush my toilets (family of four...).

L8r

Mike

[Kwazai]

sorry- look at the percentages and adjust from your bill....

Mike

[zap]

mmmm...t&g aspen ought to make for a very nice ceiling!

[speaker wire]

thanks for the input

like i said in the first post i may move to a remote property with no water .

i have done water haul when i lived in Arizona .I did not have enough storage at that time .i still have that property but thats another story.

i will most likely be looking to get 80+ acres these don't usually come with water, since i am not looking at mountain property,although that is not out of the question

i was thinking 3000 thousand gallon tank and and maybe using a 300 gallon tank on a trailer to haul the water in with my jeep.

i will get used barrels to gather the grey water and collect rain water off the roof. and maybe a 12volt waterpump to return the water back up to flush with.

there will be no car washing on this water supply

if i feel that i have enough water to do laundry i will recycle that water also .

i most likely will do laundry on location, this will give me the opportunity to charge the batteries:]

and good job on the web site :}

[John II]

One additional thought.

If you use water saving toilets and shower heads can save an immense about of water.

John II