1-A) I live in a town called Wyckoff, located in Northern New Jersey. Our water is serviced by a company called Ridgewood Water. The Township of Wyckoff along with three other neighboring towns (Borough of Glen Rock, Borough of Midland Park, and the Village of Ridgewood) is serviced by Ridgewood Water. Ridgewood’s Water source is primarily groundwater from wells. Wells in New Jersey range from about 15 feet to 2,000 feet deep. The company owns and operates fifty-five active deep wells which are located throughout the four towns. They also purchase water from United Water NJ and, during summertime demands, water from the Hawthorne Water Department. Each source is tested regularly and treated appropriately to insure that it remains in compliance with all state and federal water quality standards. The groundwater is stored in underground areas called aquifers that is then pumped upwards to our tap. After the water is used it than drains into a pipe that leads to our township sewer system.
1-B) February 7th, 2016
Shower– 2 times (10 minutes)- 100 gallons
Using the Bathroom- 5 times- 8 gallons
Brushing my teeth- 2 times- 2 gallons
Drinking Water- 1 gallon
Wash Hands/Face- (7 times)- 7 gallons
Total: 118 gallons
1-C) After tracking my water consumption Sunday, I was really surprised that I used a total of 118 gallons. Yesterday, I tried to live on only 2 gallons, and it was really hard. I went through my whole daily routine and tried to limit the amount of water I used on each activity. My top priorities on my list were mainly daily hygiene activities like, taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and washing my face and hands. I tried to save water by only showering once and by limiting my shower to only 5 minutes. However, by cutting down my shower time by half and only showering once in one day, I was already way over 2 gallons. By tracking how many gallons of water I use in one day, I was able to reduce my water usage. I don’t think I’ll be able to reduce my water usage to under 2 gallons but, I can definitely try to limit the amount of water I use throughout my daily activities. Geography plays a huge role in water use because if there isn’t constant flow of water near your area than you are going to have to limit your consumption. Also, as a whole we need to come up with a collective plan to use less water in our daily activities.
Hey Mara! My name is Shanda. here’s a quick link to my blog! https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bsn
Just like you, I too usually shower twice a day. When I was trying to cut back on my water usage, I took 1, 4 minute shower, and I realized that I was about 20 times over the gallon limit by that time. I agree with you about how tough it would be to use such a little amount per day. I really don’t think I would be able to do it either. I see that you use way less water than me to begin with so I’m going to try and work my way down to see just how much I can limit my usage.
Hey Mara,
I see you also live in New Jersey! I live down in South Jersey where we also get most of our water from underground wells. Your information is much more detailed than mine, my county doesn’t really do a good job of keeping track of this information, in my opinion. It’s really interesting how deep these water companies dig to get our water. I feel kind of relieved that almost no else has managed to beat the experiment. Living on just two gallons of water just seems so difficult!
Ryan Gebhardt
Here’s my blog post if you’re interested:
http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/10/ryan-gebhardt-modulus-4/
Hi, I’m Katie! I agree with your realization, I was really surprised by how much water I used in one day. I didn’t think such simple activities like flushing a toilet could use up so many gallons of water. When I tried to cut down on my water usage to 2 gallons, I already failed just by flushing a toilet. It also made me realize how much I can cut down to save water. Although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live on 2 gallons, I can hopefully cut down my average usage.
Here is my post!
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/katie-cuerou-module-4/