Who’s Counting? : Conservation: Southern Californians can no longer afford to spend 100 gallons on a car wash, experts say. Soon we all may be limited to 300 gallons a day per household.

Could your family live on 300 gallons of water a day? Do you have any idea what 300 gallons a day means?

Both questions have taken on importance for Southern Californians since the state Water Resources Control Board, looking at the fifth year of drought, put home water rationing on its list of things that might “jump-start” Californians into conserving water.

“People have to realize there is simply not enough water,” says water board spokeswoman Sandra Salazar. “The state’s drought has reached the point where serious action is needed.”

The five-member board is conducting public hearings this week on 13 water-saving proposals. Most involve agriculture or fisheries or water agencies, but one targets any man, woman or child who lets the water run while brushing his or her teeth.

It would limit water use to 300 gallons per household per day. The figure reflects a formula that combines the statewide consumption average of 100 gallons per person per day with the average of about three residents per household. The average single-family home in the Los Angeles area currently uses about 450 gallons of water per day.

The 300-gallon figure caught everybody’s attention when the board announced its proposal last week. The agency’s phones haven’t stopped ringing. What’s interesting is that few people questioned, even those with environmental leanings, are sure just what a 300-gallon daily limitation might entail.

Westside homeowner Rosemary Regalbuto voices a typical reaction: “I just haven’t paid that much attention, although I’m always shocked to hear how much water you use in a shower.”

Felicia Marcus, who focuses on waste water and water reclamation as a member of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, agrees: “I think most people don’t have any conception of how much water they use. They just assume it will be there.”

How much water does Marcus use every day? “I don’t know,” she confesses. “I live in a condominium building and never see the water bill.”

Even people who do see their water bill have to study it: Water use is measured and billed in cubic feet; the “gallons per day” figure is typically buried in a tangle of codes and figures, or is non-existent. Los Angeles tacks it on at the bottom of the bill. Only Santa Monica gets good marks for prominent disclosure.

But no matter how the bill is coded, water consumption in Southern California varies wildly. Some hard-core water misers report they have cut consumption to 20 gallons a day, while other households gulp as much as 600 gallons.

“I don’t know how we use all this,” muttered a Hollywood Hills resident, studying a bill that shows usage of 687 gallons a day for a two-adult family. “We must have a leak somewhere.”

But after four consecutive years of sparse rainfall, diminishing snowpacks and shrinking reservoirs, most Californians are starting to worry about where the water will come from, even if the worry has not yet translated into action.

“I care about the environment and I don’t want to use up all our resources, but I really don’t have any idea how much water we use,” says Regalbuto, director of the Santa Monica-Malibu Meals on Wheels program.

With three adults and three children ages 6 to 14, her household typifies the heavy-use routine of busy washing machines and bathrooms. Its grass lawn with automatic sprinklers is another Western staple.

“I don’t think of us as water abusers,” she says, “but I’m sure we could cut down.”

At the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, customer records indicate that a 300-gallon limit would mean a lot of cuts for the 15 million residents of urban Southern California.

“Right now the average single family residential home in the Los Angeles area uses about 450 gallons a day,” says James Derry, DWP director of customer services. The 300-gallon limitation suggested by the water board is “dramatic but doable,” he says. “We’re already on the way. We’re getting geared up for mandatory cutbacks.”

The department has asked the Los Angeles City Council to adopt mandatory rationing because voluntary conservation, which got off to a good start last spring, has slumped since October. Under the plan, all DWP customers will be required to cut water usage by 10% from 1986 levels.

“Most people would probably think 300 gallons is a lot of water,” Derry notes, “but it goes rather rapidly when you are wasting it.” Nevertheless, he thinks consumer awareness has heightened a lot in recent months.

His department has launched a two-pronged attack on the problem. For positive reinforcement, DWP distributes free low-flow shower heads and water displacement bags for toilet tanks. It offers $100 rebates to customers who replace existing toilets with low-flush models, and provides an informational hot line and a fistful of educational brochures.

And DWP’s “Drought Busters” program, started last May to patrol the city for water wasters, has issued 13,848 citations--mostly for watering lawns and landscapes between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Thomas Jamentz, manager of water conservation, says reaction to the program has been generally favorable, even among those cited: “I haven’t talked to a single customer who doesn’t want to help.”

At the state Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento, staffer Salazar acknowledges that of the board’s 13 drought-fighting proposals, the household ration plan has gotten the most public response, much of it supportive.

Although the proposal is unusual, the 300-gallon figure, she says, is not unreasonable. “It came from a formula: The flat-out average use of water per person across the state, disregarding regional differences, is 100 gallons of water a day. And we assume an average of three persons per household.

“Over the short term, we think everybody can do this. The long term will be harder.”

But the long term is what the water board has in mind, says Salazar: “We have an artificial sense of plenty in California. This is a semiarid climate and the lushness of it is an artificial conception, in most of the state. We’ve reached the point when we have to say, ‘Dry year or wet year, we have to change our lifestyle.’ ”

The water board expects to take action on its proposals by mid-February. In the meantime, water gobblers looking for ways to cut back can take heart from two sample success stories.

Jerry and Ernie Reed, longtime environmentalists, have cut water use from 552 gallons a day to 450 in their Santa Monica Mountains hillside home. The two-story house is shared by three adults who cultivate roses and other flowers, about 15 kinds of fruit trees, vegetables, and berries in a cluster of terraced gardens.

“We have consciously made an effort to cut water and we know exactly what we use. We get the amount on our water bill every month,” says Jerry Reed. Her husband, who considers it a personal failure if one drop of water is wasted, has installed low-flow toilets and shower heads, and has designed an elaborate system for irrigating the landscape and gardens by diverting laundry water and rainfall runoff from roofs and patios.

“We don’t keep things as green as we once did, but we do want to keep things growing,” she says. “I’m a great believer in refurbishing the oxygen in our air.”

The Frank Christopher family had another motivation for reducing its water use--money.

Six months ago, the family moved from Oakland to drought-conscious Santa Barbara, which charges substantially higher rates for water used in excess of basic service.

The family’s first water bills were shocking, says Christopher, a documentary filmmaker:

“For awhile I was running out to the meter every time we used water, to see where it was going. It became apparent very quickly that our normal use of water was unacceptable. Now we’ve stopped using the dishwasher, we recycle water from the shower while it warms up and put it on plants, and we have a drip system for the extended garden.”

Santa Barbara’s economic incentives made their point: The four-person Christopher family has reduced water consumption to about 300 gallons a day.

And they have a new respect for water.

“I never looked at the utilities in Oakland,” Christopher says. “We had never thought about how we used water.

“I’m not adverse to a ration. If anything, it makes me much more conscious of what I am doing.”

Top 10 Water Savers More water foes down the drain in an ordinary day’s routine than most of us realize. (For instance, 40% of the pure water used in the average house is flushed down the toilet.) Consequently, most households can save gallons of water everyday by cominging a few minor plumbing installations with simple lifestyle changes. Of Course, every household is different. This chart is only an indicator, providing an approximation of your home’s water use and how it can be reduced.

1. TOILET Standard toilet: 6 gallons per flush Standard toilet with displacement bag: 4 gallons per flush Ultra low-flow toilet (ULF): 1.6 gallons per flush

2. SHOWER Regulation shower heads: 6 to 8 gallons per minute Low-flow shower heads: 2.5 gallons per minute

3. BATH A bath: 25 to 30 gallons Use less water in tub

4. FAUCET Kitchen and bathroom faucet flow: 5 gallons per minute Low-flow aerator faucet flow: 2.5 gallons per minute.

5. TEETH BRUSHING Brushing teeth with water running: 10 to 20 gallons Brushing teeth with glass of water: 1 pint

6. SHAVING Shaving with water running: 10 to 20 gallons Shaving with basin filled: 1 gallon

7. DISHWASHING Washing dishes (by hand) with water running: 30 gallons Washing dishes with basin filled: 5 gallons

8. GARDEN Garden hose: 8 gallons per minute Garden hose with water restrictor: 3 gallons per minute

9. CAR WASH Washing car with hose: 100 gallons Washing car with shut-off nozzle hose: 50 gallons Washing car with bucket and sponge: 15 gallons

10. FAUCET DRIP Small faucet drip: two gallons per day Repaired faucet: 0 gallons