My water usage: Ralph Diaz

Though I could not find the original source of water in my hometown, Hagerstown, Maryland, I did find that most of our water comes from a water filtering facility a few miles down the road in Williamsport, Maryland. The water is filtered locally and I’m fairy confident it comes from a local water source (the Potomac River). I have personally been to the water treatment plant that water from Hagerstown is cleaned in, and I have seen the entire cleaning process, including the last part of the process in which water is dumped into the Potomac River, where it flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The process is fairly standard: water is piped into people’s homes, and they use it; then it goes down the drain and is piped to the water treatment facility I have visited. Some homes have septic systems and other homes have well water. Homes rarely have both. Though the system in Hagerstown may be sustainable because water is being extracted from a local source, it was not always sustainable. The Potomac River was once so polluted that it was our own “Tragedy of the Commons.” Overuse and pollution of the Potomac River (30ish) years ago was destroying a natural resource that we relied on.

My Water Use

total daily use: 78 gallons

I imagine if I was living in an area where water is much less available and I had to live on two gallons a day, I would have to sacrifice many of my current daily activities which I simply could not sacrifice with my current life style. I currently take two showers a day, one shower in the morning to start my day off, and one shower at night after I get back home from the gym. I could easily eliminate a shower a day or even take a shower once every other day, but this is socially unacceptable. If I had two gallons a day I would not have much water to shower with because I would drink about half a gallon a day just to remain sufficiently hydrated. Also, right now I have to flush toilets and run faucets to remain sanitary. The different in social norms would allow me to not wash my hands 5 times a day and not flush the toilet every time I use the bathroom, thus saving 14 gallons a day, but this is somewhat not practical right now. I can, however, reduce how often I shower and the duration of my water usage somewhat right now and every bit helps.

3 thoughts on “My water usage: Ralph Diaz

  1. Hi Ralph, I’m Akiksha, a freshman here at Penn State, University Park. I liked how you’ve visited the water treatment facility in your area, and being from a different country, water supply by pipes is a completely new accept I got introduced too. Further, I agree on how if cutting down on those activities would not be socially acceptable as these are daily necessary activities.I believe we are lucky enough to be able to lead this kind of lifestyle and should take steps towards water conservation.
    Here’s a link to my blog post, http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/10/water-supply-and-usage/ I hope you enjoy reading it.

  2. Hi, I’m Yeeren. I totally agree than living off 2 gallons per day is just not feasible in our society. We would have to use one of the really low-tech toilets consisting of a hole in the ground. I shower only once per day, though (not in the morning) which would cut down some. I’m really glad people got the Potomac River cleaned up.

    My post can be seen here:
    http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/tracking-water-yeeren-low/

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