A.  I am from a small town called Horsham, which is right outside of Philadelphia in Montgomery County. In order to gather information on the water supply chain in my area, I was able to contact the local municipal water company through their website. The majority of the water supplying the town of Horsham’s supply chain comes from groundwater sources, such as wells. A small percentage of this water supply comes from surface water. The wells supplying most of the water system have been conveniently located throughout the Horsham Township. Some of these wells also form interconnections with other utilities such as Aqua’s Main System and North Wales Water Authority. The largest well in Horsham is located just south of a main road and this well alone produces approximately 13% of the total average daily demand of Horsham Township. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority actively monitors the quality of the water from each of the groundwater wells that is used to supply many of the households in this community. This past year, Horsham Township released the annual Consumer Confidence Report of all of the Authority’s in-service wells. This report illustrated that all of the service wells produced water into the system that meets the criteria for primary drinking water standards.

B.

Water Usage for Sunday, February 7, 2016

TOTAL WATER USAGE for February 7th, 2016: 60.27 gallons

C. If I were to live in an area where water was not as plentiful as it is during the present time, it would be very difficult to prioritize where I would need to ration my water supply. In order to understand this adverse situation, I made it a point to only use two gallons of water for an entire day. Through this experiment, I have learned that if I only had two gallons of water for one day, there is one main thing I would prioritize it for each day. I would need to drink at least half a gallon of water per day. It would be difficult to get by without water while cooking, but it is possible. Many processed carbohydrates, such as frozen meals, do not require any added water. Water is also necessary for bathing, but once again, if the water supply was this low, then bathing would not occur everyday. It was also difficult to keep track of water when using the bathroom and washing hands. Using the bathroom is definitely a priority, but the number of flushes can be controlled. It is obviously important to maintain hygiene, so washing hands is necessary, but it must be efficient. This also includes turning the water off while brushing teeth or in between washing dishes. The experiment succeeded until late in the evening when I became very thirsty. Given my daily water usage from part B, I would have a lot of work to do to get by on just two gallons per day. Geography matters to water usage because it determines not only the quality of the water, but also the quantity. A large amount of clean water is ideal, but there are many places where this does not occur. Water is essential to maintaining a healthy, hygienic, and clean lifestyle. Geography is a main determinant of water quality and should be considered a top priority.