Golf Course Water Use
click here to see Human Consumption
Equivalent
In San Antonio, each
time a golfer plays a round of golf it takes between 2200
and 3500 gallons of water to support his game based on golf
course average water use.
In
summer,
a golfer uses 3400 to 5400 gallons per round when water use peaks and our annual
drought occurs.
The following information is provided to make golfers aware of
their individual use of a natural resource.
We think golf is a great sport but perhaps San Antonio and the
surrounding Hill Country has more than enough courses (56) considering our annual
summer drought. 6.4 billion gallons of water a year are required to water the
grass on all these courses. This region simply cannot afford recreation during times
of drought that requires over 2200 gallons of water for each person to play one game.
We suggest that golfers that are conscientious citizens will play only on courses
that
1. use sewage effluent or gray water to water the course or
2. water only the greens during times of drought.
| Golf Course Water
Use In South Texas |
| Rounds Played
on a Golf Course |
Water
Use Per Course - average |
Water
Use Per Golfer - gallons |
| Per Year |
Per
Day |
Per
Year
Acre Ft |
Per
Day
gallons |
Per
Year
25 Rounds Avg. Play - gallons |
Per Round |
| San Antonio Municipal Courses - Year 2000 |
| 52,000 |
146 |
350 |
312,000 |
53,425 |
2,137 |
| Private Courses (Assumed to be National Average for all Courses in
US) |
| 34,000 |
93 |
350 |
312,000 |
83,871 |
3,355 |
At a luncheon sponsored by the Boerne Chamber of Commerce in August of 2000, when the
Guadalupe River had run dry above Canyon Lake, we listened to Prof.
Hammond from UTSA talk about
the Trinity Aquifer. At the end of the meeting it was announced that the golf
tournament had been switched from one course to another because the first course had water
problems and the grass was brown. I chastised them for making the switch and was
laughed at. I wonder, if these golfers in Boerne had a clue as to the amount of water
they were personally responsible for using, would
it have made a difference. Every golfer in this
area should have this information.
| Human Water
Use Equivalents |
| One
Golf Course - San Antonio |
Human
Consumption |
|
Amount Used |
Activity Required
So We Can Water One Golf Course |
| |
Grass Watering
Gallons per Day |
Family of 4
gal/day |
Glasses of
Water Refused in Restaurants
Each Day |
Toilets Flushed
Each Day
at 3.4 gal per flush |
| Seeding New Grass |
1,000,000 |
|
8,000,000 |
277,778 |
| Summer Watering |
500,000 |
|
4,000,000 |
138,889 |
| Annual Average |
312,000 |
560 |
2,499,512 |
86,667 |
Note: It is generally accepted that 1 acre foot of water per year
will serve 2 families of 4 people. In San Antonio,
perhaps because of grass watering, that number jumps to 1.25 acre feet per year.
It is assumed in the following example that each glass of water served in a restaurant consumes 16 ounces - 8 oz to
drink and 8 oz to wash the glass.
A conversion from an old style toilet to a new water efficient toilet saves about 3.4
gallons of water per flush.
Example 1: During
periods of drought as defined by water level in the Edwards Aquifer, water is not served
in restaurants unless requested. During the summer months 4
million glasses of water would have to be refused in restaurants each day to save enough
water to equal that used on one golf course. How many people are served
in restaurants each day in this area?
There are roughly 1.3 million people in the
Bexar, Kendall, Comal County area and about 56 golf courses. |
Example 2: Conversion of old toilets to new water saving toilets is a great water
saver. Each flush saves at best about 3.4 gallons depending on how much water the
old toilet used. Lets pretend there is only one toilet in the three
county area and we convert it to a new water saving toilet.
In peak summer watering months that toilet would have to be used over 138,000 times to
save the water put on one golf course each day.
That water saving toilet would have to be used over 6
times each day by each man, woman and child in the three county area to save the water put
on all 56 golf courses each summer day.
As of March 1, 2005,
SAWS estimates there are still 250,000 old style toilets in Bexar County. If
all are replaced with low flush toilets then we can add 15 more golf
courses. That is what you accomplish by conserving water - you
make it possible for the developers to squander more water and make more
money on your efforts.
Golf course water use makes water conservation by
individuals look hopeless doesn't it. Of course reduction of lawn watering remains
the biggest source of water conservation by individuals for the same reason golf courses
use so much water. That grass requires a lot of water to stay green when it is 95ºF
outside. |
| Top of Page |
Note on Water saving toilets: Some do not stop up and even others do not require
multiple flushing (some water is still saved in most cases when double flushing is
necessary) Our Universal-Rundles work fine. Our old Kohler low profile toilets
often required multiple flushes. Neither stopped up. If you have a toilet
that stops up or requires multiple flushes, it is a design problem with that brand.
Fancy low profile toilets are the worst offenders.
|
