1-a.
In my hometown of Pottsville, PA, the water supply chain starts in the reservoir in the Gordon Mountain. The water makes its way through the pipes at the bottom of the dam and then into a filtration system. When it enters the filtration system it is then purified. After it’s purified, the water travels through piping to each individual home. The pipe decreases in size so the pressure remains the same. The water than comes into our house through a lateral pipe (3 quarters on an inch) through the water company supply meter. Water travels through the branch lines into each individual appliance. After the water enters and goes through the house, the excess waste water goes down the drain through a trap. The trap stops the sewer gas smell from coming into your house. The waste water ends up into the Waste Water Treatment Plant located on the Pottsville/Minersville highway about 4 minutes away from my house.
1-b. Water Usage on February 9th
Shower- 15 minutes- 2 times- 74 Gallons
Brushing Teeth- 2 times- 0.25 Gallons
Flushing of Toilet- 4 times- 1.6 per flush- 6.4 Gallons
Washing Clothes- 1 time- approximately 20 Gallons
Washing Hands- 5 times- with sink running for 20 seconds- 4 Gallons
Washing Dishes- 1 time- hand washed for 10 minutes- 5 Gallons
Drinking Water- spread throughout the day- 0.50 Gallons
Cleaning my dogs pen- 3 bucket of water- 4.5 Gallons
TOTAL- 114.65 Gallons
1-c.
For my experiment, I tried to cut back on the amount of water I used in the shower, brushing my teeth and washing the dishes. The main areas I prioritized my water usage were in drinking water, washing my hands and cooking. My hygiene and health is very important. The largest amount of water I use is while I’m shower. I thought of several ways I could cut back on water while I’m in the shower. First, I could shower in a shorter amount of time. Second, I could turn the water off when I’m applying shampoo and conditioner. I cut back on water while brushing my teeth by turning off the water until I’m completely done. While washing dishes I filled up the sink with water and only turned the water on when I needed to rinse off several dishes. The experiment on living off of two gallons of water was not successful for me. I approximately use 114 gallons of water per day then all of a sudden I tried using only 2 gallons for a day. In my chart in 1-b I use more than two gallons just to wash my hands several times a day. Geography plays a big role in water use. We are very fortunate for the amount of water we have unlike other countries. We don’t live off of two gallons of water a day like families in Haiti. This experiment was definitely a difficult challenge.
Hi, Kelsey! My name is Melanie and I really liked what said and the changes you made to reduce your water usage. I was drawn to your post because we seemed to use about the same amount of water for mostly the same things, in particular, shower water usage. I also prioritized drinking water. You are completely right when you say that health is really important. So I think it is most important to make sure that we are giving our bodies the right amount that they need. With that being said, I think we are so fortunate, just as you said, to have the access to water that we do!
Link to mine: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/10/module-4-water-t…king-and-usage-2/
I don’t think that link worked, this should be the correct one: https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bq5
Hi Kelsey,
I really liked your post! It is really cool to read about everyone’s different sources for their water. It is also interesting to see the different amount of water each person uses daily. We definitely take our water use for advantage. I liked how you came up the idea to turn the water off while shampooing and conditioning, that would definitely save water because I know personally this takes me the longest. If we all cut down on our water usage we could do some collective action to reduce this issue! Here is my blog if you are interested: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/10/module-4-water-management/
Hi Kelsey, My name is Tyler and I am a senior at Penn State Main. That’s really interesting that Pottsville’s water comes from mostly a reservoir. My household get’s its water from our well. I think it’s crazy how taking showers can distort the numbers so much when talking about numbers of gallons. After this exercise it makes me think about how much water girls use vs the amount that guys use doing the same things. We definitely take our water usage for granted.
Check out my blog post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/mod-4-money-usage-tyler-brackbill/