There’s a great new way for Sonoma County residents (and just about everyone else) to calculate specifically how much water they’re using in their day-to-day lives: the WeCalc, developed by the Pacific Institute in Oakland.
The Web-based calculation schema essentially helps users determine their “water footprint.” By asking users a series of questions, the questionnaire estimates precisely how many gallons of water you’re using every day. It also puts these figures into a national context, telling you how your usage habits measure up against national averages.
Anyone can take the test. Yours truly took it earlier this week. According to WeCalc, my household (in Healdsburg) uses about 200 gallons of water per day; 61 of them for outdoor use (which, by the way, is 74 percent less than the natural average) and right around 140 gallons for indoor use (which is 33 percent of the national average, in case you’re scoring and/or judging from home).
We use 49 gallons of hot water per day, which requires 200 therms of natural gas per year. Based on natural gas costs for our county, the calculator determined that our annual water heating cost is about $230, which is more or less right on the mark.
Where the WeCalc truly blew me away was in its assessment of how water usage impacts our carbon footprint. According to the algorithms, the footprint associated with our water use is 2,600 pounds of CO2 emissions per year.
This number is equivalent to 1.2 metric tons; and to driving a passenger car for 77 days.
Believe it or not, these figures are essentially one-third the national average. Still, to call them eye-opening would be an understatement. Take the test and see for yourself: http://www.wecalc.org.
