In my hometown of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, many of the residents are on a private water system. Through this system, the rain water is filtered through a well to provide clean water for the residents. The water comes through the tap and is used. It then goes down the drain, through the pipes and into a septic tank. In this tank, the contents of the disposed water are separated. On the bottom layer, there is the heavier waste which is solid. In the middle layer is something called grey water, which is essentially just the dirty water. On the top layer is a sludge layer of oils and other things that are lighter than the rest of the waste. Since the waste just sits in the septic tank, someone has to come out and pump the grey water out. When a company pumps a septic tank for the grey water, they either dispose of it or they take it to a plant to be treated so it can be reused.

Water usage for a day:

Shower: 1 time, 15 minutes = 75 gallons

Brush teeth: 2 times = 1 gallon

Hand washing dishes: 1 time, 7 minutes = 14 gallons

Toilet flush: 5 times = 15 gallons

Wash hands: 5 times = 5 gallons

Drinking water: 10 cups = 0.625 gallons

I use approximately 110.625 gallons of water a day. This does not account for when I wash my clothes or do other things using water.

If I had to live off of 2 gallons of water a day, I think I would struggle tremendously. I drink over 25% of that in a day alone. The main places that I need to prioritize my water use are in the places where i absolutely need them the most, cooking and drinking. Those activities keep me alive so they get the most water. I would have to cut my drinking down by a lot which means I would have to monitor my diet and activity. Salty foods and activity that needs a lot of energy make me drink more water. Although I was supposed to cut down on how much water I drink, I failed to do so and drank my normal amount. I also need water for showering and flushing the toilet. I had to continue to do that. I tried showering with turning the water off when I was not rinsing. This was easy for me to do because I have had to do it before. When washing my hands, I turned off the water while I was scrubbing and while I was brushing my teeth I turned off the water while brushing, as I normally do. Overall I failed. The moment I first flushed the toilet I failed because I went over the amount of water I was allowed.

Geography is important to how much water one uses because of the amount of water that they have access to. There are many places that are in a drought and have to limit their water usage because of this. In places that do not have access to much water, they need to alter their life style in a way that allows them to survive off of what they have. For those that have access to a lot of water, they use a lot of it and do not even notice. I’ve always lived in a place that is affluent in their water supply and I never noticed how much water I used until now.