1-a:
My hometown is in Lanacster, PA. It’s right against one of the biggest rivers in PA, the Susquehanna. The Susquehanna River treats most of Central PA, and this is where 60% of Lancaster’s water comes from. The Conestoga River is a more local river that mostly only provides water for Lancaster. The Conestoga accounts for the other 40% of the water. All this water that Lancaster uses gets pumped into the city’s two water treatment plants. The water can then be used for sewage or consumption. Sewer water is pumped separately into homes. In these plants the water is purified and tested. The tests on the water are more frequent and extensive than the tests ran for bottled water. After purification the water is pumped into the city and surrounding area with pipes that run into developments and then to houses. All the water runs into the house from a pipe, which includes with a meter that gauges how much water is used by each house a month. After the going through the gauge the water filters off into different parts of the house for use.
1-b:
Water Use:
Water Consumed: 1 gallon
Showers: 25 gallons
Brushing Teeth: .5 gallons
Shaving: 1 gallon
Toilet Flushing: 10 gallons
Washing Hands: 2.5 gallons
Total: 40 gallons
USGS: 47.36 gallons
CSG Network: 110 (includes laundry) gallons
1-c:
On a daily basis I use water for drinking, showering, brushing my teeth, washing my hands, going to the bathroom, and for shaving. I would make sure consuming water is my #1 priority as that is what would keep me alive. I’d drink 0.5 gallons of that a day. I would use 1 gallon of water to try and clean my self each day. If it were allowed I’d use 2 gallons of water to shower every other day. The rest of the 0.5 gallons would go towards cooking so I could make proper meals for myself. So that makes up the 2 gallons, and that life would be very rough compared to what I am using now. I would have to go to the bathroom outside, my hands would only be washed when I took a 1-minute shower, and I wouldn’t have much to brush my teeth.
The geography of a town makes an incredible difference to how much water is consumed. First of all, how wealthy the town is makes the largest difference. In places like Mozambique and Haiti, they can’t afford water treatment and mass consumption, even if Haiti is a small island. Also, where the town is compared to a water source matters. The farther they are away, the more expensive it is to get water, which in turn limits water consumption. There are many other geographical reasons but these are the biggest two in my mind.
Hey Josh my name is Alyssa! Here’s the link to my blog post: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/10/module-4-alyssa-massaro/
I noticed you get water from the Susquehanna River. This is my main water source as well. I live in Harrisburg so I am about 20 minutes from the river. I agree with you, and pretty much everyone else, that living on 2 gallons a day would be very difficult. It really puts things into perspective and makes me realize how many people take something as simple as water for granted. Great post!
Hi Joshua! My name is Adriana and you are very lucky to live in a town with such a direct water source! I am from California so we have a lot of issues and restrictions surrounding water. I also wrote in my post that hygiene is hard to maintain when you only have 2 gallons of water a day, especially when staying hydrated is a priority.
Here is a link to my post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/09/water-usage-adriana/
Hi Joshua, my name is Sarah, and here is a link to my blog post:
https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/wp-admin/post.php?post=43848&action=edit
Our water usage was pretty similar. I think you did a really great job at sorting your water into priorities, while I was so shocked at how much water I used that I didn’t even know where to begin to cut some out. You definitely kept the most important things and used the water in the most efficient way possible. I also said that geography makes a huge difference because some people are not nearly as fortunate as we are to just turn on a tap. Some people have to travel very far or can not afford to have running water, especially in the amounts that we use. Great blog post; I enjoyed reading it!