1-a: Back at home I live in a larger suburb of Austin, Texas. Because of this we have many water reserves around our area. The closest one is actually just down the road from my house. This reserve provides water for my neighborhood as well as two other surrounding neighborhoods. The water makes its way through a filtration system that is located at the reserve then flows through the pipes located at the bottom of the reserve which leads to all of the different houses that this reserve provides water for. We also have a few water towers in our area that provide water the same way. Going through a filtration process then heading to the different houses around my hometown. From what I have found the City of Round Rock pumps its water from two different sources, wells and surface water. After the water travels from the reserve/water towers we have access to water, with consistent pressure all throughout our house. The wastewater then goes to the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant located roughly 5 or so miles from my house.

1-b: February 9, 2016

Shower – 20 minutes – 42 gallons

Brushing Teeth – 2 times – 0.35 gallons

Using the Bathroom – 5 times – 8 gallons

Washing Clothes – 2 loads – 40 gallons

Washing Hands – 7 times – 2 gallons

Dishwasher – 1 time – 10 gallons

Drinking – 26 oz./water bottle – 3 times – 1 gallon (throughout the day)

Total – 103.35 gallons

1-c: Using only 2 gallons of water for a day proved difficult, especially in the personal hygiene department. My main priority was to not use as much water when cooking. I realized that the only way I was going to be able to do that was by eating out. Having someone else provide my food, technically, means that I wasn’t the one using the water. This was one strategy I had. I also decided to take a shorter shower. This was the main problem I had. Only having 2 gallons would have meant that I couldn’t have had more then a one-minute shower. In this experiment I failed to live off of only two gallons of water for the day. Compared to my part 1 I used considerably less water since I cut out preparing my own food. I was also able to cut down the amount to time I used water for brushing my teeth, washing my hands, etc. Just by shutting off the water if you aren’t using it in between helped cut down on the amount of water I used throughout the day. Geography plays a huge part in water usage. If you live in a more secluded area it would make more sense that you wouldn’t have as much water usage as someone who lives in an extremely populated city. This is just one of the reasons why people everywhere are always trying to make new systems for water usage and trying to make drinking water available for more people.