Water budget: what you have and what you need

In short

• The critical month is almost always August or early September: measure then and plan for that month.
• A house uses roughly 120 L per person a day, but drinking and cooking need only 3–5 L.
• In July and August a garden needs 3–5 L per m² a day; drip irrigation and mulch save 30–50 %.
• 1 mm of rain on 1 m² of roof = 1 litre; in practice you collect about 80 %.
• Measure your spring or well once a month for a whole year and record it in the log.
• When water runs short, the order is always the same: people, animals, seedlings and polytunnel, garden, fruit trees.

What's inside

Chapters

1. What a water budget is
2. How much the house uses
3. Garden, polytunnel and fruit
4. How much the animals need
5. Measuring a spring or stream
6. A well: how much it really gives
7. Rain and roof
8. Month-by-month budget
9. When there isn't enough water
10. Common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Daily summer demand calculator
• August supply calculator
• Roof rainwater by month
• Monthly water budget
• Spring and well measurement log
• The water year on the homestead
• Drought plan