Denver Water is committed to helping you be efficient with your outdoor water use, which is why we send personalized water use reports and recommended tips to customers during the summer.
To ensure that you receive your outdoor water use report, call Customer Care at 303-893-2444 (7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Monday - Friday) or chat with them during business hours and update your contact information to include an email address.
The following topics are designed to help you better understand your report.
Calculating your outdoor efficiency target
To calculate your efficiency target, we created a monthly water budget using 12 gallons per square foot of landscape annually and added in the average winter consumption from your bill.
Here’s an example showing a water budget for a 3,000-square-foot landscape:
3,000 square feet of landscape × 12 gallons = 36,000 gallons annually
When we distribute the water budget monthly (based on seasonal plant needs) and add in average winter consumption (from your bill), the monthly efficiency targets in this example look like this:
| Month | Percent of outdoor water allocation (based on plant needs) | Outdoor gallons per month | Average winter consumption — on your bill (gallons) | Efficiency target (gallons) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 6.5 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 |
| May | 14.5 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 9,000 |
| June | 21.5 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 |
| July | 21.5 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 |
| August | 17 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 |
| September | 14 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 9,000 |
| October | 5 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 |
| Total | 100 | 36,000 | 28,000 | 64,000 |
Why is 12 gallons per square foot the target?
In preparing the Water Efficiency Plan, Denver Water worked with a group of community stakeholders (including water and landscape professionals) to develop efficiency targets.
The group reviewed water requirements for a variety of landscape types (xeric, bluegrass, rock and mulch) and used that data to determine that 12 gallons of water per square foot of landscape annually is an efficient outdoor benchmark.
Currently, 65 percent of Denver Water’s single-family residential customers are at or below this level.
What about indoor water efficiency?
Indoor water efficiency is not included on your monthly outdoor water use Report because Denver Water doesn’t collect enough information about individual customers to personalize indoor water use. Our goal is to add this in the future, but in the meantime, customers can determine their indoor water efficiency.
Forty gallons per person per day is considered efficient indoor water use in Denver. How do you know if you are hitting the target? Follow these simple steps:
- Locate the Average Winter Consumption (AWC) on your Denver Water bill. AWC is an average of your water use January through March.
- Compare your AWC and family size to the table below illustrating efficient AWC by number of people in residence.
| Family Size | Efficient AWC |
|---|---|
| Five people | 6,100 gallons per month |
| Four people | 4,880 gallons per month |
| Three people | 3,660 gallons per month |
| Two people | 2,440 gallons per month |