1a.
I am from Marlton, New Jersey, which is part of the Rancocas Watershed Management Plan. The water that is used in my house, originates from the Delaware River, which merges with the Rancocas Creek. Rancocas Creek is 360 square miles, and supports 29 municipalities covering three counties. My county is Burling County, and my municipality is Evesham Township. The water from the creek is taken, and brought to the water treatment plan. My municipal township has a water treatment plant there, and the water from the creek comes through where it is then filtered, cleaned of contaminants, and the water levels are tested. Once the water has safe levels, it is dispersed throughout my township to different households. When the water is used in my house, it goes down to the drain into the sewage system where the two water supplies combine and reach the treatment plant again. Once the two sources are back at the water treatment plan, the entire process starts over again. The whole process is a cycle of recycling, and cleaning water so it can be redistributed.
1b.
Usage of Water:
- Shower: 15 gallons
- Teeth Brushing: 0.2 gallons
- Toilet Flushing: 21 gallons
- Hand Washing/Dish Washing: 8 gallons
- Glasses of Water Drank: 1.3125 gallons’
Total: 45.5125 Gallons
1c.
For this experiment, I tried my best to only use 2 gallons of water in one day. In order to do this, I went to the store and bought 2 1 gallon containers of water so I knew exactly how much I was using. I figured that the most important thing I would need the water for was to drink so I set 1 gallon aside to drink. Then, I used one gallon strictly for hand washing, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and things like that. I poured the gallon in a closed sink, and whenever I needed to wash my hands or brush my teeth etc. I get a cup full, and use only a small amount. This part of the experiment worked out pretty well, and I was able to use this amount for drinking, and washing my hands/teeth/dishes. The thing that didn’t work out, and was the reason I failed the experiment, was that I had to use water to flush the toilet. For sanitary reasons, I could not just leave the toilet unflushed and this pushed my over the daily limit of 2 gallons. I also did not use water to cook anything for this one day in particular and this was a challenge I faced because I use water so frequently in cooking. This challenge has taught me how I can conserve water, and take individual action to saving the amount of water we use daily. I can save water by limiting the time I run the faucet, cut my shower time down, and just overall be more efficient with the water. If I take individual action, maybe I can influence others to do the same, and this can lead to collective action so we can reduce the amount of wasted water.
Hi Madison! My name is Mara and I am also from New Jersey but more North. I was very intrigued that your town got your water from a creek where, my town got their water from wells. I was also amazed at how you used 45 gallons in one day compared to my 118 gallons. I really liked how you went to the store and got 2 1 gallon containers so you knew exactly how much water you were using. I think that was a great idea. I also agree that you can save water throughout your daily routines by being aware of how much water you are using. If you want to check out my blog here is a link:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/module-4-individual-and-collective-action-2/
Hey Madison, my name is Molly and I really liked how you tried to use 2 gallons of water for the day you logged your water usage. While I was responding to the third question to see if I could live off of 2 gallons a day I found it very challenging to decide where to use my water and I can clearly tell from your log that it was difficult to stick to it. My log is different than yours because I didn’t aim for 2 gallons a day instead I just used water how I normally use it and my total is about 4 times bigger than yours. However, I did do laundry that day and I only do that once a week so my total was higher than my average water usage. I agree with you about trying to conserve water because there are so many places that are in a drought we don’t even know about so if we can start with ourselves we might be able to get others to follow as well.
Here’s the link to my post if you are interested in reading what I had to say:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/module-4-my-water-usage-2/
Very nice experimenting. Your conservation efforts seemed pretty effective. I found that flushing a toilet would be an automatic failure as well. I suppose to get around your cooking problem you could have ate things that don’t require any preparation like fruits. I think for the society with live in, two gallons of water is an extreme cut back, but maybe limiting ourselves to around 30 gallons might be manageable.
My post can be found at http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/water-tracking-usage-2/
Hi, Madison! My name is Melanie and I thought what you did for this experiment was amazing! It was such a good idea to get the two gallons of water to keep track of how much water you were using. Not only that, but the way in which you used the water was also very efficient. In the end, as you said, it is so hard to really only use two gallons, and it really does make us appreciate what we have. I completely agree with you, as well, that if we take actions going forward to conserve water, maybe we can convince others to do the same. Great work!
Link to mine: https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bq5