My hometown is Bellefonte, PA which is about twenty to thirty minutes outside of State College, PA. In my hometown we have the Big Spring, which collects raw water from rain and run-offs and then is pumped into the distribution system. The distribution system allows the water to be pumped to each residency through pipes and in some cases the water is fed from a large water tank that is located near my high school. Throughout the distribution system are small pump stations that add pressure to help the process of water flow. After the water is consumed or used by the residence of Bellefonte, then the excess water or waste joins the watershed or is recycled back to the Big Spring. Centre County is part of the Susquehanna Watershed, meaning the disposal of my water usage will end up in the Susquehanna River, which is the same watershed for anybody living in State College.

In my water usage chart I came to a total of 167.2 gallons of water for day one of my experiment and instantly realized how I could improve my individual actions. I do not do dishes every day because I rarely cook or use any dishes as well as that I do not do laundry every day, I just happened to do my laundry on that day of the experiment so for the second day of the experiment I cut out both of those things because they were already one of my lowest priorities. Also I selfishly leave water on while brushing my teeth without even realizing what I am doing, so I could cut out at least another 8 gallons of water just by turning it off. There was actually a commercial about this during super bowl 50 this past weekend (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Ar0eCp6uE). In the video it showed one person brushing their teeth with the water running and other things that you could do with that water instead of letting it go to down the drain unused and I found the most effective one to be the little girl drinking the water out of her hands. On another note I decided drinking water was the highest priority and that I would never cut that out. I don’t have to shower daily and my showers could be a lot shorter. I could also flush the toilet less rather than flush it every time that I use the toilet and I personally have to be selfish and do not feel ok if I cut down the amount of times I have to wash my hands do to using the bathroom. So a day cutting back on my water I could cut back to 16.2 gallons which is failing the challenge but in the end I cut back majorly on my individual actions. I know that in some cultures going to the bathroom does not involve a functioning toilet and they have something more like an outhouse. I think we can relate our own individual actions from this experiment and think about where our water comes from and how some places on earth have it easier to live due to the sustainability of their rivers or water sources.