1-a.) I am from a town called Kennett Square, PA where I live in a housing community called Willowdale. Since we are located above a large aquifer our community uses shared wells in order to supply water to our homes. We chose a community with shared wells, so that in the case of power loss we will not lose water. Community generators kick in to power pumps and allow water to continue to flow to houses. The way a well works is that a hole is dug into the ground, in my case that hole goes down about 25ft for a shallow well. In this hole an electric powered pump is placed in the ground. This pump vacuums the water from the aquifer and sends it to a tank for a final filtration before being pumped into our home. Once the water is used and drained, it is sent through our septic system into a septic tank. In this tank water and debris separate. The water is then treated with good bacteria and filtered into a drain field in the ground.
1-b.)
| Type of Water Consumption | Frequency of Water Use | Number of Gallons Used |
| Teeth Brushing | 2 | 2 gallons |
| Toilet Flushing | 4 | 12 gallons |
| Hand/ Face Washing | 5 | 5 gallons |
| Showering | 1 for 15 minutes | 30 gallons |
| Water Consumption | 8 glasses | 0.5 gallons |
| Dish Washing | 1 for 5 minutes | 10 gallons |
| Total Number of Gallons Used: | 59.5 gallons |
1-c.) For my day of limited water use I altered many of my daily activities. For starters I reduced the amount of water that I consumed by a large amount. I also found alternate methods to both showering and washing my hands. Instead I used wet wipes and hand sanitizer for sanitation. My priorities had definitely shifted, instead of focusing on sanitation I worried more about how I had to use the water for consumption. One strategy that I used to reduce my water footprint was only flushing the toilet when absolutely necessary since flushing uses such a large amount of water. My experiment succeeded for a single day, but I don’t believe it is sustainable for long-term use. When comparing this experience to my everyday use it becomes obvious that I am completely unware of the amount of water I am using. It also shows that I waste water on more trivial activities instead of using it for actual survival. Geography matters in water use because depending on where you are located in the world can determine the amount of water you have access to or if you have any access to water at all.
Hi Karissa, my name is Alex and I’m a student from the Worthington Campus in Scranton. I chose your post because my water system is different than yours and I liked learning about the well system. Where I live, we use a gravity fed pipeline system where water flows downward from the houses into pipes, then into a body of water. From there the sewer authority cleans the water. Wells are actually used not too far away from me, about a 15 minute drive into the “country”. Also, I didn’t even weigh in the flushing in my part C! So, good thinking on your part!
If you’d like to look at my post, here’s the link!
https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bro
Hi Karissa!
Your post caught my eye because of 1c – I see we both had the same idea about the hand sanitizer! You can see my post here if you wish: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/water-water-everywhere-so-where-does-it-all-come-from-module-4-bernstein/
I definitely agree with you on the “experiment part” – one’s priorities must shift when one has such limited water usage. I know that I for one did not realize how good I had it until it came time to limit my water. We do waste a lot on trivial activities, but I think that’s because we don’t know how lucky we are to have so much available to us. I think we should all take this as a lesson to cut back some – not to 2 gallons a day, but enough where we are more aware of what we use.