Average Daily Water Usage

Our new water softener has an optional feature: daily average water usage for the last 7 days.  It gets updated every day at midnight.  Several days ago, I activated the feature and it now reads 56 gallons/day.  That's 28 gallons per day for each of us.

Then, I wondered, how does our usage compare to other households?  Online research indicates that the average person in the US uses 80-100 gallons a day, most of which is flushing toilets.  Wow!  We're each using only about 30% of the average?  Doesn't seem possible.  

Or does it?  The new dual-flush toilets we put in last spring certainly save lots of water.  Perhaps our newish washing machine and dishwasher are water-efficient also.  And, I don't need much water to wash my hair.  Yeah, it's possible.

Note: water used for irrigation, washing cars and other outside uses doesn't go through the softener.

In case you're wondering: yes, we do shower regularly.

Cool Male Actors

Cool male actors of yesteryear.  I miss these guys!

Steve McQueen

Paul Newman

Lee Marvin

James Coburn

Charles Bronson

James Garner

Yul Brynner

Richard Widmark

Humphrey Bogart

Who would you add to the list?

Fountains, Cracks and Leaks

Returning home after nearly 4 months in the RV is something we always look forward to. OMG, the space! The fifth wheel has about 300 SF, our home 1900 SF. We spend most of our time outside when RVing so we don't really feel cramped. Still, it's great to be back home where we have our hobby areas, a garage and a full size shower - with 50 gallons of hot water instead of 6. 

 Usually, we return home and find everything's hunky dory. Not this year. First thing we noticed when we pulled up the driveway, was the lower terrace century plant: it looked sick, lots of dead fronds - or whatever you call them; certainly not leaves. All the other desert plants looked fine. I discovered the problem when I ran the irrigation system. The riser had broken off near the sprinkler head, and water was shooting 15' up in the air and into the street. That's the fountain. 

 Next comes the crack. I happened to be in the garage during the water softener regeneration cycle and noticed water puddling on the floor. took the top off the softener and found water spraying from a crack in the plastic thingamajig.    Same thing happened 6 years ago. Rather than have it repaired again for $150+ I got a new one, finished the install yesterday. 

 Finally, the leak. Just finished with the water softener when I noticed the floor was wet around the water heater. Sure enough, it's leaking. It's less than 5 years old, still under warranty, so I get a replacement for free. Not totally free, gotta pay $235 for labor and service call. 

 Can't help but wonder what minor catastrophe is next. 

 On the brighter side, I'm playing pickleball every other day (and playing fairly well for an old fart of 76), the high weather temps are decreasing, Trish is back to quilting and kayaking, neither of us have C-19. Life is good.