Water Consumption - Winter vs Summer Usage
Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 2:20 PM
The question has been asked about the difference in water consumption between the winter and summer months. The average daily usage for the months of January through March, 2022 ranged from 745,032 gallons in January to 736,581 gallons in March. The average daily usage for the three months was 734,267. By comparison, usage was 1,936,000 gallons on June 27, 2022. The difference in water consumption from the winter average to our most recent peak is 1,201,733 gallons. Some additional water usage can be attributed to additional showers, clothes washing, etc due to the heat. The vast majority of additional usage is for lawn watering.
As part of a rate study conducted by the engineering firm AE2S, it was found that during the summer months 30% of water customers use 60% of the water. A new water rate system was implemented so that the more water that a customer uses the rate for water usage will increase. This was done in an attempt to encourage water conservation but not impact normal water usage including normal lawn watering. A healthy lawn needs 1 inch of water per week. The City encourages customers to find out how much water they are putting on their yard each time their irrigation systems is used. The City has free rain gauges to assist you in finding this out.
It is important to remember that water conservation practices are important to ensure our water resources stay viable for future generations. The City of Brandon has adopted our water conservation measures, such as even/odd lawn watering from the City of Sioux Falls. They follow the same three level lawn watering practices as Brandon does. If all residents would voluntarily follow the even/odd watering schedule and dial in the correct amount of water that is being used on their lawn, it is highly unlikely that water usage would exceed the triggers established to move to a more restrictive lawn watering schedule. If the triggers are met, the City will inform our customers through our website, Facebook, our Textedly messaging service and the news media.
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