Activity 2.2.1- My daily water use

     Water is a finite resource on planet Earth. On average the American citizen uses about 80-100 gallons of water in just one day (Water questions and answers)! With only 2% of all water on Earth being viable for human consumption, and less than 1% of that actually being accessible to humans, it is important that we become aware of out water usage is order to cut down and help conserve this precious resource (Mutiti, et al.). The following data presents my water usage over the last three months as is stated on my San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) monthly bills, as well as the calculations that brought me to my daily water usage, and some projected daily water usage calculations from water use calculators I found online.


    1.      My household water usage over the last 3 months 
                      June- 2,244 gallons (gal)
                      July- 2,306 gallons
                      August- 2,220 gallons 
                                          6,770 gallons used over 3 months 
   
     2.        My monthly water usage from the household water usage
                       6,770 gal/ 3 months = 2,257 gal per month (gpm)
                       2,257 gpm/ 2 people= 1,128 gal personally used (gpu)
                      
     3.        My daily water usage   
                  1,128 gpu / 30 days= 38 gal personally used daily (gpud)

     4. The following data table presents my daily water usage from the above calculations, as well as projections of my daily usage made by online water calculators 




      5. After calculating my actual daily water usage and comparing it the the average American's daily use actually kind of surprised me. I thought that I would be up there with the higher percentage users, but I pleasantly discovered that my personal daily water usage was 140% less than, or a little less than half of that of the average American's use. I was able to figure out the percentage decrease of my daily water use by taking the average of the average American's water use, which is 90 gallons a day, and subtracted my daily water use from it, which is 38 gallons. After subtracting these two numbers I came to an answer of 52. Then I divided 52 by my daily water usage, which is 38, and received and answer of about 1.4. I then multiplied 1.4 by 100 to convert the decimal into a percentage (percentage change). The math looks like this:
                                    90 - 38 = 52
                                    52 / 38 = 1.4
                                    1.4 x 100 = 140%

The first online calculator that I found was created by the Southwest Florida Water Management District estimated my daily household water usage was 342 gallons, meaning my personal daily water use would be at 171 gallons a day, which is a 350% increase from my daily water usage. This was a bit surprising to me, considering the website asked me very little about my water use at home. It was also surprising because according to the average American's usage, the rates were pretty making me question the difference in water usage rates across states, and what kind of factors might affect the way people in different states use water (n.d.1). The second online water calculator I found was created by Chelan County Public Utilities District estimated my daily household water usage was 416 gallons, meaning my personal daily uses would be at 208 gallons per day. This estimate is a 450% from my actual daily water use, which was even more surprising to me than the first calculator. These calculations are such a large estimate over my actual usage that it makes me further wonder what factors are being considered behind to create the numbers we see after feeding the site basic information about our household water use (n.d.2). The third calculator I used came from Scottish water, which is Scotland's publicly owned water supplier. This site estimated my personal daily water use to be about 208 liters (L) a day. 1 liter equals .264 gallons . 208 (L) times .264 gallons equals about 55 gallons. This estimate was surprising to me because after encountering water calculators which grossly over estimated my average daily use, it was nice to encounter one that was closer to being accurate. Fun fact, when the Scottish Water online water use calculator gathers information on an individual's water use activities it asks (takes into consideration) how many times a day you use the kettle in the house, which I assume is for making tea (n.d.3). This simple addition of an extra line of questioning is proof to me that there are different regional, as well as cultural aspects that are taken into consideration when calculating an individual's water usage.



Works cited

Mutiti, s, et al. (2018). "Chapter 7: Water." Introduction to environmental science (3rd ed.), by Mutiti et al, Biological Science Open Textbooks. University system of Georgia, 2018, pp. 9. 

Percentage Change. 2011-2020, (c) Copyright skillsyouneed.com. “Percentage Change: Increase and Decrease.” SkillsYouNeed, www.skillsyouneed.com/num/percent-change.html.

 "Water Use Calculator.” (n.d.1).  Home, Chelan County Public Utilities District , www.chelanpud.org/conservationhome/water-conservation/water-use-calculator. 

“Water Usage Calculator.” (n.d.2). Water Usage Calculator - Scottish Water, Scottish Water , www.scottishwater.co.uk/your-home/water-usage-calculator-page.

“Water Use Calculator.” (n.d.3). Water Use Calculator | WaterMatters.org, Southwest Florida Water Management District , www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/water-use-calculator.

Water questions and answers: How much water does the average person use at home per day? Retrieved from https://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html


     
              

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