Part 1-a:

The water supply chain usually starts at the water source. For my hometown Guangzhou, China, water usually comes from the West River and the East River. The city’s water supply companies then filter and sanitize the water. After water being treated in the water supply companies, it is transported to households and to our taps, but unlike U.S., tap water in China is not drinkable. Before we consume water, we boil it first or use water filter. According to the official report in 2013, Guangzhou’s water usage is over 350 liters per person per day, which is the top in the country. Wastewater produced from households then goes to the closest wastewater treatment plant, where wastewater get treated. A portion of treated wastewater is recycled and used in agricultural and industrial use, and the rest goes back to the downstream and eventually to the south China sea.

Part 1-b:

my water usage for 2/9

Part 1-c:

Since I only have 2 gallons of water, I would restrict water use in cooking, drinking and basic cleaning, assuming there’s no other water resource. My priority water use would be drinking water, because I need to drink water to survive, and the second would be cooking water and the last would be cleaning. I would try to consume as little water as I can, and for basic cleaning, I would try to limit the time and amount I use, and if possible, I would recycle the water. To make an assumption, I would use approximately 1.2 gallons of water for consumption, and 0.5 gallon of water for cleaning, and I can still recycle the water after cleaning, in this scenario, the experiment would work. comparing to part 1-b of my usual daily water use, using only 2 gallons a day seems like impossible, and it also makes me realize that how much water I use, or waste in my daily life. Geography has a great impact on water supply, as we can see from the experiment, 2 gallons of water per day maybe is what people in Africa have, and there’s even no guarantee of clean water source. But here in U.S. we don’t need to worry about clean water and water supply, and we always think we have a lot for us to consume.