Water Usage, Perricone

Part 1-a:

For my home town of Honesdale PA, the homes in town use water from Bucks Cove Lake. This reservoir is supplied by the Lackawaxen River and accessible via Bucks Cove Road. The reservoir is located six hundredths of a mile outside of town, the previously used reservoir was over five miles outside of town when the pipe network was in need a repair and Bucks Cove Lake replaced it to comply with the town’s needs. The water is pumped into town using a pipe network that mostly follows the roads. Most of the pipes in question were replaced last summer. Once the water is used in houses in town and sent down a drain away from said houses, it is piped back to a wastewater treatment plant accessed by the same road, Bucks Cove Road. The address for the complex is 574 Bucks Cove Road. The treated water is released downstream of the Lackawaxen river to reenter the Lackawaxen river section of the Delaware River Basin Watershed. My personal home has a well that pumps well water straight into my house and we have a sewer on our property that the wastewater is filtered through.

Part 1-b:

Water use:

Drinking 0.6 gallons a day

Cooking 1 gallon a day

Dish washing 30 gallons per day

Flow rate from tap: 1.5 gallons per minute

Time running water: 20 minutes

Shower 26.25 gallons per day

Flow rate from shower head: 1.75 gallons per minute

Time running water: 15 minutes

Teeth brushing 0.425 gallons per day

Flow rate from bathroom tap: 0.85 gallons per minute

Time running water (with turning on and off): 0.5 minute

Hand washing 5.1 gallons per day

Flow rate from bathroom tap: 0.85 gallons per minute

Time running water: 0.5 minutes

Washings per day: 12

Toilet flushing 28 gallons per day

Gallons per flush (model from 1980-1992 time frame): 3.5 gallons per flush

Flushes per day: 8 flushes per day

Rinsing wash rag for cleaning 1 gallon per day

Laundry 11.49 gallons per day

2 loads a week

40 gallons per load (old machine)

80 gallons per week

Total water use in home: 114.2 gallons per day

Part 1-c:

I am going to reference a summer camping trip as the two gallon a day water use experiment. While camping, I was lucky enough to be by a river which allowed me to clean my body. I did use wet wipes for washing. I brought enough clothing, and did not use a toilet or cook any food that required water. My water usage was limited to drinking, and a half cup for brushing teeth. The amount of water I drank increased due to weather and activity leading to a total water use of about a gallon. This was made possible by not needing to use machines, as in a toilet or washing machine, which use high amounts of water, and I did not use dishes. This worked for one day but is not a lasting life style. Some of the items I used, wet wipes and plastic silverware, are not available in the areas listed. As an experiment, I could live with significantly less water use and perhaps take steps to decrease day-to-day consumption, but this is a failed experiment due to the need of flushing toilets and running washing machines when living in a home in an urban area.

3 thoughts on “Water Usage, Perricone

  1. Hi
    My name is Andrea and I like that you decided to relate the two gallons of water experiment to a camping trip because then you are limited to the amount of resources rather than just trying to do it because you have noticed how much you have been using. I think that this camping trip would also help you realize that you’re using more water than you really need to. That being said it shows that you are not selfish in that way. It also show that you are better at sustaining life without all the extra resources that some people might not have. Your post really stuck out to me because I am a recreation, parks and tourism management major so your camping trip story really relates to my life and I completely understand having limited water resources on hiking trip and camping trips.

    If you’re interested in my blog at all you can find it here:
    http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/andrea-garbrick-water-tracking-and-usage/

  2. Hi my name is Neil! You can find my blog post here: https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bup

    Like your town, my town also has a reservoir that serves a large portion of the people in the county. I live so close I could see it from my backyard. I think its pretty cool that you guys have your own individual well. I know those wells need some personal maintenance to upkeep the safety of the water, and I wonder how that water tastes compared to the reservoir water. It’s amazing to see how limited our daily activities would be on such a stringent water budget!

    • Thanks for your comment on my post. I know the well had to be tested when it was first drilled and my grandmothers well needed a pump replaced once. I think the taste of our well water is the same as bottled water and I have trouble drinking the chlorine tasting “town water” that is available through the township.

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