See your household's water use per person against the desert's conservation goal — and where it actually goes.
St. George sits on the Virgin River in the Mojave Desert, and water is the town's tightest constraint — Washington County is among the highest per-person water users in the country. The water district measures the whole community in gallons per person per day. Type who lives in your home and how much lawn you water to see roughly where your household lands, and where the water actually goes. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
Everyone who lives in the home most of the time.
Roughly length × width of the living grass, in feet. Rock, gravel and drip-watered desert plants use very little — leave them out. Put 0 if you have no lawn.
84
Your use per person, a day
gallons per person per day
251
Whole home, a day
gallons a day
91,500
Whole home, a year
gallons a year
Where your household lands
You 84
Goal: If the county hits its 2030 goal — 137 gallonsAverage: Washington County home use — 159 gallons
That’s at or under the county’s conservation goal — well done.
Where your water goes
Indoors69% · 174 gallons a day
Lawn31% · 77 gallons a day
Your biggest use is indoors. In this desert, outdoor watering is more than half of a typical home's water, so the lawn is almost always the biggest lever — far more than shorter showers.
These are estimates from typical figures — about 58 gallons a person a day indoors, and about 56 gallons a year for each square foot of lawn. Your real use depends on your household, your season and your yard, and your water meter and bill are the true number. Homes on separate secondary (irrigation) water are billed differently.
Worth knowing
Why gallons per person, per day?
It's the yardstick the Washington County Water Conservancy District uses to track the whole community's water. Washington County's home use has been reported around 159 gallons per person a day, and the region's plan aims to cut per-person use 14% by 2030 (and further by 2070). Hitting that goal works out to roughly 137 gallons a person a day — the 'goal' mark on the scale above. Washington County Water Conservancy District.
Most of a St. George home's water goes outside
In Utah, roughly 60% of the water a home uses goes to outdoor irrigation, and most homes water with treated drinking (culinary) water. That's why a big lawn moves the number so much, and why the district pays people to replace grass. Utah State University Extension.
About the pool figure
If you check the pool box, the tool adds about 18,000 gallons a year for evaporation and splash-out. There's no published St. George figure, so this is a desert-region estimate — treat it as rough. A cover cuts evaporation sharply. Arizona pool water-use study.
Town Tools builds free, public tools for St. George and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.
From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.town.tools/st-george-utah-us/home-water-use