Efficient plumbing devices and wider use of desert landscaping has led to a marked drop in household water consumption over the past decade even as Phoenix’s population has grown, city officials say.
“I think people understand this is the desert and water is precious,” said Councilwoman Thelda Williams, a member of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association. “We’ve (the city) had a conservation program a long time, and people have responded and use less water.”
Officials credit more-efficient devices, such as low-flow toilets, and desert landscaping for the reduction.
Research by Phoenix’s Water Service Department shows 1.5 million people lived in Phoenix in 2013, and about 375,000 homeowners had city water accounts. In 1998, about 1.2 million called Phoenix home, and 301,475 had water accounts. (Apartments and townhouses were not included in those numbers.)
Residential water use totaled 159 million gallons per day in 2013, down from 169 million in 1998, according to Gerard Silvani, a principal planner for the department.
City officials said about two-thirds of the residential water accounts belonged to single-family detached homes. It is in these homes where significant water use declined, said Douglas Frost, another principal planner.
“A lot of water use is driven by these folks,” Frost said.
Changes in landscaping
Water use dipped especially in the homes built from 2000 to 2013, Frost said. Two factors — efficient devices and fewer water-slurping lawns — appear to be the reason why people use less water, city officials said.
In the 1970s, for example, toilets used 3 to 4 gallons of water per flush, Frost said. After the early 1990s, the city’s plumbing standards were upgraded and toilets that used only 1.28 gallons of water per flush became available, he said.
The Phoenix Building Construction Code has required developers to install low-flow toilets since at least 2003, according to Phoenix Planning and Development Department officials.
Some homeowners also replaced their lawns with desert landscaping, Frost said, although tracking changes in landscaping and water use is difficult. Homeowners often change their landscape gradually, and a survey using aerial imagery found many homes don’t have either 100 percent lawns or desert landscaping, he said.
The water department found most homes have some combination of native species, imported species, rock and/or smaller plots of turf.
“While no detailed aerial imagery exists for the mid-1990s, water-use records and historical information suggest that most single-family homes were turf (grass) at that time, indicating that landscape changes account for a significant portion of the decline in water demand that has occurred since then,” Frost said.
The city continues to explore water-resources issues. This year, the City Council approved several measures, including partnerships with other entities to store water and reviewing Arizona’s groundwater laws.
Homeowner’s quest
When Susan Clark bought her Phoenix home in 2010, the house came with a yard designed for a lawn. The first year, she planted grass and her water bill skyrocketed to $200 per month.
She had a choice: Keep the lawn and pay the high water bill or kill the grass and replace the front lawn with desert landscaping. Clark chose the latter in 2011.
The project unfolded over three years. Clark and her daughter started by conducting research. They combed the pages of Phoenix Home Garden magazine for ideas. Clark, a Desert Botanical Garden volunteer, learned about how to convert a lawn. She also rode her bicycle through her neighborhood for ideas and attended classes.
“There is so much to learn about how you want it to look and what trees you want,” Clark said. “From the classes, I wanted my place to look like the Botanical Garden.”
She learned which desert plants used little water and which ones attracted bees and birds. She planted mesquite, creosote and desert willow and aloe, which require little water.
In 2012, Clark’s daughter, Angie Gaston, and grandson, Nathan, helped rip out an old tree in the front and began to shape the landscape. Her daughter helped her select which desert plants would work well.
Clark found out the irrigation system that came with the house did not fit her plan for desert landscaping, so she removed it.
When her landscape came together, Clark said, that portion of the water bill dropped to $10.
“I only had the expense of watering the lawn for a few months,” Clark said. “I cannot imagine what people spend on their lawns. For me, it’s been the best decision.”
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