One recent Tuesday morning, a team of workers arrived at Jake Olson and Amy Ball’s house in Canoga Park and hauled away their toilets, faucets, shower heads, laundry machine, dishwasher, and everything else that dispenses water. Too much water use was the problem. By the end of the day, they’d replaced it all with a more miserly, drought-compatible set of appliances.
The family is participating in an experiment to use as little water as possible. In exchange for free home retrofits, they’ve agreed to have a team of people monitor every time they flush a toilet, turn on a faucet, or take a shower.
The World Health Organization says each person needs 50 - 100 liters (13 - 26 gallons) of water per day to meet basic needs like drinking, showering, cleaning dishes, and washing clothes. A group called the 50 Liter Home Coalition — made up of government organizations, community groups, and companies including Procter and Gamble, IKEA and Kohler — have a bold claim: It’s possible to stay below that elusive 50-liter limit without sacrificing anything.
The global coalition has decided to prove that claim with a pilot project in Los Angeles.
It’s not the easiest place to do it. LA County residents, on average, use three to four times that much.
Olson signed up hoping it’ll lower his overhead costs.
“I was in an apartment for 17 years and didn't have a water bill,” Olson says. “Then we got this house, and we were watering grass, and water bills would come, and I was like, ‘Wow, how is this reality? What is this life? I do not want this.’”
The project is studying how little water a family can use while behaving typically, so Olson and his family are under strict orders not to try harder to save water.
Three months after the project started, Olson says they’re following the rules.
“The only thing as far as our day-to-day behavior that's changed is: When we use the kitchen sink, we have a button to push, whether it's washing dishes or washing hands or anything else,” Olson says.
The team started monitoring the family’s water use last summer for a baseline comparison. They were already pretty upstanding water consumers. They had taken out the grass in their yard and only ran the dishwasher when it was full.
Although, Amy Ball admits that she tends to “luxuriate in the shower.”
“I like to turn up the heat really hot and just be in there,” she says. Olsen says that with a toddler in the house, some of the only alone time they get is while showering.
The experiment lasts into the spring, but two months after installation day, the coalition began seeing results. So far, Olson’s new appliances have reduced the family’s water usage by roughly 20%, and he says some changes — like the larger showerhead — are actually more enjoyable to use.
“Knowing that even from this install to now we're trending significantly downward is really exciting, honestly. It's great to know that we're pretty much getting to the point where we're going to be as efficient as possible,” Olson says.