1a.) My home in State College, PA receives water from two different wells. The first well is located at Spring Creek Park, while the second is located on the corner of Shiloh Road. Both wells pump water up from the ground and distribute it to nearby houses. Once the water leaves my house, it travels to the University Area Joint Authority (UAJA). When the water arrives, it goes through a series of clarifiers, splitters, and tanks until it reaches the ANT building. In the building, chemicals are added to the water to make it clean. UAJA adds chlorine gas, 5 mL of oxygen, ozone, and UV light to kill all microorganisms. Later in the cycle, water is pushed through screens which catch minute particles. Once it is clean, the water is pumped back into Spring Creek (where it can be distributed back into homes) or pumped to specific areas in town such as the car wash, CINTAS, and the Center Hills Country Club. UAJA guides water to local wetland areas as well.
1b.) TOTAL WATER USAGE: 111.375 gallons
1c.) Living on two gallons of water for a day was nearly impossible for me. I put my two gallons of water towards drinking, washing my hands, and flushing the toilet. The majority of my water use was dedicated to drinking as I get massive headaches if I am not hydrated. I took a little bit of water to brush my teeth and to wash my hands. I did not take a shower, cook (I ordered food from a nearby restaurant), or do a single load of laundry. In order to cut back on my water footprint, I did not leave the water running while I brushed my teeth, or while washing my hands. I waited until it was absolutely necessary to flush the toilet as well. After the day was over, I realized I failed at this experiment. By three o’clock I had used up my two gallons of water. Living off of two gallons of water was miserable considering I use 111 gallons on a daily basis. The experiment put into perspective the different ways I can cut down the amount of water I use in part 1b. Geography matters to water use as certain areas around the world have a limited amount of water. As a result, areas such as Haiti have to use very little water on a daily basis in order to sustain it. I am grateful to live in a town where water is easily accessible!
Hi Amanda! My name is Emily and I really liked how you showed your water usage in the form of a pie chart. It is unique and allows readers to get a better view of what your water is being used for. It was also pretty cool that you actually tried living on two gallons of water for a day! I agree that it is almost impossible where we live. If we lived in a country where that was the norm it would be much more feasible. For example, it is hard to go without flushing the toilet or taking a shower. In comparison to my water usage, you used less than me in a typical day – I learned that I need to cut back on my shower time! Here is a link to my blog post: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/07/water-tracking-usage/.
Hey Amanda! My name is Kayla, here is the link to my own post
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/07/my-water-footprint-kayla-crestani/
I really enjoyed reading over your post. I live not too far from State College and am familiar with the two well sources you listed. I liked your chart you made to show your own water usage as well. It was super organized and very colorful! I also see that you and I both mentioned we shut the water off while brushing our teeth or washing our hands as a way to cutback on water usage. Following that, I realized we both failed at trying to use only 2 gallons of water for the day. Needless to say, we both use a lot of water and had a hard time reducing that usage! It’s so hard to imagine living in places such as Haiti and it certainly makes us appreciate what we have at home!