Home Water Use 1

Home Water Use

Table of Contents:
(1.) Water Use in the Industrialized World
(2.) Activity: Water Use Calculator
(3.) Activity: Drips and Leaks


Water Use in the Industrialized World

If youre like most people in the developed world, you dont
think much about water. Clean, drinkable water is delivered
into your residence almost invisibly, and its always there
when you turn on a faucet. As such, most North Americans
dont see the need for water conservation, particularly those
who live in areas where freshwater supplies are abundant.
But as populations grow and water supplies stay roughly
constant, more and more pressure is being brought to bear
on rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater aquifers and the need
for conservation has become almost universal. These efforts
are particularly crucial in areas with arid climates, low water
supplies, and/or frequent droughts.





Listen
Title: Las Vegas Copes with New Water-Use Limits
Date: September 19, 2003
Summary: Las Vegas has implemented new water restrictions and
has a team of enforcers to make sure residents abide by those
restrictions. Ky Plaskon of member station KNPR reports.
(http://www.npr.org). (3:33)
Link: http:// http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1436803
Requires RealPlayer


Water is used for a wide variety of things in the modern world. Its used in large quantities in
agriculture and livestock production, to generate electricity in thermoelectric power plants, and
in numerous industrial processes. Another major category is municipal water use, the use of
water in homes and businesses. To get an overview of water use in the United States, review
the material below from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Home Water Use 2



How We Use Water in These United States (PDF) (189 KB)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/water-use/water-use-overview-epa.pdf
As described in the EPA document, agricultural irrigation and thermoelectric power generation
use a great deal of water, but while you cannot reasonably control the amount of water used to
grow your food or generate your electricity, you can exert control over your personal water use
and affect the quantity used for municipal supply. In a typical home, water is used for cleaning
(humans, clothes, dishes, vehicles), drinking, sanitation (flushing toilets), and watering
vegetation. The brochure below from the U.S. EPA describes the breakdown of water use in a
typical home and offers simple suggestions for improving water efficiency. Review it before
proceeding.


Using Water Wisely in the Home (PDF) (235 KB)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/water-use/using-water-wisely-epa.pdf


Activity: Water Use Calculator

Through the provided introductory materials, you should now have a good idea of the various
ways you use water in your daily life, and some simple steps you could take to reduce your
overall water use. In this activity, you will be asked to examine your current water use and then
examine several lifestyle changes that could reduce your overall water usage. To do this youll
be using an online water calculator from the Southwest Florida Water Management District that
asks you to provide some information about water-using activities and uses this information to
calculate your overall water use.


Water Use Calculator
Southwest Florida Water Management District
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/thepowerof10/


Use the water calculator to examine water use in your household, completing the Activity Sheet
as you progress. Consult the materials below to gain ideas for simple changes that can result in
significant reductions in water use prior to completing the corresponding section of the Activity
Sheet.

Using Water Efficiently: Ideas for Residences (PDF) (956 KB)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/water-use/water-cons-brochure-epa.pdf

Water-Efficient Landscaping (PDF) (1,679 KB)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/water-use/water-cons-landscaping-epa.pdf

Home Water Use 3
H
2
OUSE: Water-Saver Home
California Urban Water Conservation Council
http://www.h2ouse.org



Activity: Drips and Leaks

Losses from drips and leaks can form a significant but often overlooked use of water in the
home. While slow drips and small leaks can seem inconsequential, the water losses incurred
from these sources over time can be rather large, as was shown in the background material
provided above from EPA. To examine how much water can be lost this way well be using a
drip calculator from the American Water Works Association. Access the calculator using the
link below and answer the appropriate questions on the Activity Sheet.

Water-Wiser Drip Calculator
American Water Works Association
http://www.awwa.org/advocacy/learn/conserve/dripcalc.cfm
Copyright 2004, American Water Works Association. For additional information
related to water issues, contact AWWA at www.awwa.org or call 800-926-7337.

If this exercise encourages you to examine your home for leaky pipes and toilets, please consult
the resources above for tips and techniques for identifying sources of water loss.



Home Water Use 1

ESA 21: Environmental Science Activities
Activity Sheet
Water Use

Name:

Instructor:

Estimating Water Usage:

Provide the required information and enter the information about your households annual water
usage from the water use calculator in the table below. To calculate the percentage for each
category, simply divide the value in each category by the Total Household Use and multiply by
100 (to convert proportion to percentage).



Per Capita Daily Use (gallons) Percentage of Total
Showers

Baths

Toilet flushes

Running Water

Hand Washing Dishes

Dishwasher

Laundry

Lawn Watering

Other Outdoor Uses

Total Household Use



Which category was the greatest percentage of your water use? Was this surprising?


Many people in rural areas in developing countries must still carry water from its source to their
homes. If you were to carry the amount of water used per person in your household on an
average day, and a gallon of water weighs approximately 8.3 lbs, how many pounds of water
would you need to carry each day?

Home Water Use 2
Water Use Analysis:

Enter the per-person Gallons of Water Used in the House values from the calculator in the table
below.

Per Day Per Month Per Year
Your Household

U.S. Average 100 gal 3,000 gal 35,000 gal

How did your households water usage compare to the U.S. average?






Analyzing Changes:

Examine how small changes in lifestyle would affect your households total water usage. Return
to the water calculator and make a reasonable change that would reduce your overall water
usage - describe the change in the table below. Press Calculate after making the change,
calculate the number of gallons saved per year, and enter it in the table. Reset the calculator to
its original values, and repeat the procedure for two additional changes.

Change Reduction in Annual
Water Use (gal)
















Seeing the reductions in water use that occur as a result of these changes, would you be willing
to immediately implement any of them? Explain why or why not.







Home Water Use 3
Losses from Drips and Leaks:

Open the WaterWiser Drip Calculator, enter the values in the table below in the # of drips per
minute box, hit the Now Calculate button, and enter the results in the table. Lets assume that
your home has leaks like those listed. For each of the drip rates, add the Daily Waste from
leaks to your Total Per Capita Daily Use from the Water Calculator. This would be your new
Total Daily Water Use. Then calculate the percentage of the total water used that is due to the
leak. As you did previously, simply divide the Daily Waste value by the Total Household Use
and multiply by 100 (to convert proportion to percentage).


Total Per Capita Daily Use from Calculator: ____________________ gallons

Drips per Minute Daily Waste (gal)
New Total Daily
Water Use (gal)
Percentage of
Total Due to Leak
5

10

15

30

60



Compare the percentages of water use due to the leak to the percentages for the other
categories (Bathroom, Toilets, Faucets, etc.) from your initial run of the water calculator. For
each drip rate, list the category with the closest percentage.

Drips per Minute
Percentage of Total
Due to Leak (gal)
Category with Closest Percentage from
Initial Run of Water Calculator
5

10

15

30

60



Does seeing the potential losses in leaks cause you to check your home for leaking pipes and
toilets? Explain why or why not.