Part 1-A:

The water for my hometown comes from the Allegheny River. Over 70 million gallons are treated every day.  The plant is capable of producing over 100 million gallons of water per day.  After the water is removed from the river it goes through 3 stages. The 3 stage process takes three days full days to complete.  The first stage is clarification to remove silts and clays. The nest stage is filtration, where the water is passed slowly through coal, sand and gravel filters to remove fine particles and microorganism. The next stage is disinfection to treat the water with chlorine to remove a harmful microorganisms. The water is stored at an open-air Highland Reservoir, then retreated before distributed to the public. The water leaves the plant and flows through pipes to get to each house. The sewage pipes come from each house then meet in the street to combine together. The sewer grates are labeled that they lead to the river to deter people from throw trash or other foreign objects into the pipes. The pipes eventually lead back to the Allegheny River.

Part 1-B Water Usage for February 7, 2016

Part 1-C:

I found it surprising that I use over 100 gallons of a day. I do not wash dishes or do laundry every day. However, my daily actives still add up to 82 gallons. Restricting my water usage to 2 gallons was challenging. I realized since I am renting my apartment, I cannot change any of the faucet to new ones. Therefore, I decided to start cutting down the activity that used the most water, taking a shower. Also, I decided to follow the old saying of “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” to flush my toilet less since going to the bathroom outside is not acceptable in downtown State College. Furthermore, I made sure the water was off while I was brushing my teeth. I decided to start using hand sanitizer instead of washing my hands. My experiment failed, I could not figure out how to shower in under a minute. I believe it would be easier to if I had a fresh water spring outside. The spring could be used for washing cloths and bathing.  Looking back at part 1-b, I realize that in my everyday routine I could be using less water. I could take shorter showers and wash dishes with the sink filled with water instead of letting the water run.  Geography plays a huge rule in water usage. For example geography governs how the used water is disposed of and recycled.  I would be taking an individual action by using less water a daily. However, we as a whole planet need to come up with a collective action to use less water. Furthermore, there needs to be a collective action to help poorer nations have easily accessible water for drinking and cooking.