My hometown is in Williamsport, PA. I am from the very rural parts where most people have wells at their homes. At my home there is a man made well approximately 30 feet below the ground in my backyard. The well is basically a giant pipe under the ground that collects water. When it rains, the water seeps into the ground and runs into the well. Inside the well there is a pump that pumps the water into a holding tank in the basement of our home. The water is sent through a special filter that removes sand, dirt, and other kinds of sediment. The water is then dispersed through the house for use. After the water is used it goes down the drain and out through a pipe through a septic tank where solids like food and waste are collected and the water is sent back into the ground where it becomes naturally purified and eventually reused.

Limiting myself to two gallons of water was not successful at all. To be able to do this I would have to change my entire daily routine A LOT. As you can see going from 128 gallons to 2 gallons would require quite a few major changes. For my experiment, the only water I did not try to limit was that for my pets and drinking water.. for obvious health reasons. However for other categories I did try to make some changes to reduce. To try and save water I eliminated the bath and took an extremely quick 3 minute shower just once a day. Also for other uses such as brushing teeth I turned the water off when actually brushing. For toilet flushing, as gross as it may sound you can easily save several gallons of water by not flushing every single time the toilet is used ( I was not able to do this one as my roommates would not be happy.) Geography definitely plays a major part in water use as in some places you might be restricted in how much you can use. I am lucky enough to be in a part where this isn’t an issue, but it does make you think how much water you can save if everyone just sacrifices a little bit. This is where collective action comes into play. If we all just give up a little bit or even just try not wasting water we can conserve a lot!