Balancing Your Water Budget

Use this rainwater harvesting calculator to determine your water budget and to help you size your cisterns.

Begin by entering values for the items below.

Water Income

Fill in the blanks below to determine how much rainwater and greywater can provide for your landscape.
Roof-Harvested Rainwater
Square feet of roof space (help)
Graywater-Source Appliances
# of people in household
Top-loading washing machine, loads per week
Front-loading washing machine loads per week
# Showers per person per week (assumes 5 minute shower)
# Baths per person per week (assumes 40 gallon bath)
# minutes faucet run per person per day
AC unit (enter "1")
Swamp cooler (enter "1")

Water Expenses

Enter the number of trees/shrubs or square footage of landscaping type to determine your current outdoor water demand.
Quantity
Citrus (edible or ornamental)
Dwarf citrus tree
Velvet mesquite
Screwbean mesquite
Native Acacia or Palo Verde
Oleander
Native deciduous 5' shrub
Native evergreen 5' shrub
Pomegranate
Mission Fig
Additional plants at gallons per month
Square Feet
Vegetable garden
Bermuda grass turf

Now, press calculate below to see your results!