Arizona Water Meter
Per Capita Water Use
Seven principles for water conservation
Click to see how these principles affect water use:
One of the most common measures of a utility’s water use is how much water is used per person in the service area per day — often described in gallons per capita per day (GPCD). Per capita use in the single-family residential (SFR) sector is relatively consistent across the United States because most people perform the same activities inside and outside of their homes (e.g., bathing, cooking, watering the yard) — with some fluctuation for local climate and its influence on outdoor water use. Because of this consistency, we are able to compare SFR use across communities to assess their level of water efficiency.
Several communities in Arizona - including Buckeye, Payson, Clarkdale, Prescott, and Casa Grande - are currently using less than 100 GPCD in the single-family residential sector (SFR). This is a remarkable achievement for the Mountain West region. Extensive turf landscaping is not the norm in these communities, and several are predominantly composed of newer homes that were built with more water-efficient appliances and fixtures than what was available even 10 years ago.
In Arizona, the vast majority of SFR water use goes to outdoor irrigation 1 , so methods and practices that target and reduce outdoor use can be very effective at improving water use efficiency. Land use planning policies that restrict high-water-use landscapes or ensure that plants come from a desert-appropriate list are a few of the ways these communities are achieving low-water-use in the SFR sector.
The majority of communities evaluated in the Arizona Water Meter Report are using between 100 and 150 GPCD, which is comparable to water use rates across the Southwest 2. Notably, Scottsdale uses almost 250 GPCD in the SFR sector, more than four times the GPCD in Buckeye. High-water-use rates in Scottsdale are attributable to larger lot sizes, a more affluent customer base, and a high percentage of residences with pools.
Single family residences across Arizona use water at rates from below the median for western households to being among the biggest water users in the West.
Many of the mid-range cities have older homes and abundant landscaping. These communities can increase their efficiency by targeting education and rebates at older homes, which are more likely to have high-water-use fixtures and appliances, and selecting appropriate measures to reduce outdoor water use. A Xeriscape rebate program — sometimes known as “cash for grass” — is one type of program that can reduce outdoor water use. These financial incentive programs have been shown to be highly effective in Arizona and across the Southwest. One notable example is the city of Mesa’s Xeriscape rebate program (2007-2009), estimated to have removed 113,420 square feet of turf and currently saving 2,039,000 gallons of water annually.
1 Western Resource Advocates. 2009. New house new paradigm: A model for how to plan, build, and live water-smart. Boulder, CO.