1-a) My hometown of Farmingdale on Long Island is fortunate because our water is from local wells. All water provided for the district of South Farmingdale is groundwater that is pumped from 11 wells located throughput the community. These wells are drilled into the Magothy aquifer beneath Long Island. From well to home there is only one process that the water undergoes. The pH of the water is adjusted to reduce corrosive action between the water and water mains and in house plumbing systems. At the same location the water is also treated to remove iron, which does not affect health, but can discolor the water. The district also adds a small amount of chlorine as a disinfecting agent. Luckily the quality of the water on Long Island is usually graded great to excellent, so the water does not require much treatment.
1-b) According to the USGS website I used approximately 115 gallons of water the day that I kept track of my water intake. A 10 minute shower and running the dishwasher once accounted for most of my water use.
1-c) I tend to drink a lot of water throughout the day, so I would prioritize having enough water to consume if I were to use only 2 gallons of water for a day. Some strategies that definitely cut down my water use was taking a much shorter shower, I tried to shower in less than 2 minutes. I most definitely failed at the experiment of living on 2 gallons of water per day, mostly because water is constantly available. I consume roughly one gallon of water per day, and between cooking and showering I was already well above the 2 gallon threshold. Geography matters quite a bit when it comes to water consumption, because in the United States we have water almost constantly running in our homes, whether it’s toilets, showers, dishwashers, or swimming pools.
Hello my name is Madison Halbom, I was reading your post and agreed with your part C in that the consumption of water should definitely be prioritized when limited in water resources. In my blog post I also suggested that a way to conserve as much water possible in the experiment is to catch the water after usage and try to find a way to purify what is remaining and that way we would be left with more than just letting is get wasted. I believe that this module has very much opened my eyes to the amount of water usage a person uses on a daily way and how we can limit it. http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/16/module-4-water-t…king-and-usage-3/
Hello Steven! My name is Alisha and I am a sophomore, BFA Stage Management Major here at PSU University Park! The link to my blog is http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/10/alisha-tyler-lohr/.
Again, I respect you so much for drinking as much water as you do a day! I could not keep track or realize that I need to drink more water as others do! I think it was really interesting to see how drastic of a gallon change it was to just use a dishwasher. I also, really enjoyed reading about the well system in your community! It’s interesting to read all the different ways water is used across the country. Great entry!