How are residential water budgets calculated?

Indoor Water Budget

The indoor budget is calculated using four factors:

The number of people in the household
The average amount of water an efficient person uses daily
The number of days in the billing cycle
A conversion factor from gallons to billing units

For example, for a 3-person household during a 30-day billing cycle the indoor water budget would be:

Indoor water budget = 3 X 55 X 30 = 4,950 gallons of water / 748 gallons = 6.6 billing units

People per household

Based on census data, Western uses a default number of three people per household for single-family homes and two people per household for condominiums and apartments. The number of people regularly living in your home directly impacts your indoor water budget. If you need to update the number of people in your home, complete the Standard Request for Water Budget Adjustment Form (Spanish).

Average daily water use

Studies show that, on average, a typical person uses less than 55 gallons of water each day indoors. This amount includes all indoor water use such as hydration, bathing, doing laundry, and more while using common water-efficient devices, including low-flow toilets and showerheads. Based on this data, and a review of our customers’ historical water use, Western uses an indoor water budget of 55 gallons per person per day.

Days in the billing cycle

The number of days that you are being billed for service. This information can be located on your bill and comes from the actual dates your meter is read. It may differ from bill to bill, but will usually be between 28 and 31 days.