1a.

I am from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. There is not much information on the water supply chain, but there is a little history and info on the borough website for east Stroudsburg. The main source of water is the East Stroudsburg Dam and Reservoir that holds 302 million gallons. There is also the Middle Dam and Reservoir less than a mile downstream from the East Stroudsburg Dam and Reservoir. Just downstream from both of these reservoirs is the East Stroudsburg Water Filtration Plant. It is capable of outputting 2.3 million gallons of treated water per day. In case of a drought, the PA Department of Forests and Waters allowed for the engineering of the Michaels Creek Diversion. This directs water from the close Michaels Creek to the Reservoirs with a swale that follows the land downhill. The Borough is allowed to divert the water only from September 1^st to May 30^th each year. After being treated the water is piped downhill and in to town. The Borough’s customer base is primarily residential and uses around 1.3 million gallons per day. Any extra water is used to supply neighboring Stroud and Smithfield Townships. All the information can be found here: http://www.eastburg.org/water_sewer.php

1b.

Water usage for Sunday February 7^th, 2016:

1c.

The day after I tracked my water usage, I decided to attempt to use just two gallons of water for one day. I knew showering and washing clothes were the biggest sources of my water usage. Drinking is obviously a necessity so I knew I could maybe only cut that down by half. I also knew that I wouldn’t need to use the dishwasher or clothes washer because I had just used them the previous day. My strategy was to skip the shower for the day, and shower the next morning instead, since I had just showered the night before. My only usages for water were to be drinking and hygiene like teeth brushing and hand washing, as well as flushing toilets. Ultimately, after just one flush of a toilet, that is typically more than 2 gallons. Therefore, the experiment was failed. I was able to reduce my water usage to around 15-20 gallons, but it adds up quick. Compared to the day where I did not try to reduce my usage, it is easy to see that people can overuse water, and should be more conscious about what they are using. Geography plays a huge role in this because in places like State College, we have an almost limitless supply of water. It makes it easy to go about your day without thinking about how much water you are actually using. In other places that have restricted resources, it brings to light something a lot of others take advantage of.