Ben Pink works in conservation for a bay area utility, and he wants your help:

I created a self water audit calculator [XLS] that I’m considering putting on our website once I have it tested and developed a bit further.

I’m wondering if you would be willing to test this calculator for your own water use at your home. All you need is your last water bill and some basic information about your household water use.

It would be great if you can tell me if this calculator reasonably estimates your water use, and whether you think this type of thing is useful.

The idea is that a customer would be able to better understand how water is being used in the home and why a water bill may be high,etc.

They would be able to determine their gallons per capita per day and we could then assign a relative rating to this number.

I realize that some of the information on the calculator may be too complicated for the average customer to use. For example, many people don’t know how many zones they have on their irrigation system or the flow rate of a particular sprinkler. An alternative method to gathering this info would be to have an option where people estimate the amount of irrigated area (square feet) and apply some one-size-fits-all water demand for this area. This method which I would not prefer, would not be nearly as accurate but would be easier for the customer to input.

Bottom Line: It’s hard to know what your water use is and then match that to your bill. That’s what these calculators are for. Please give Ben some feedback — email linked to his name above or comment here — so he can make a good one!