The Clear Truth

      The class we are taking is called Water. We are ending Unit 1 with an action project. In this class we have learned all about the process of getting water. We simulated carrying water, learned conversions in math and read about water crises. Our action project was making a poster educating people on water usage. We had to calculate our own water usages and compare them to an average American and a country of our choice. We had a vote and the winner gets their poster displayed on public transit.

     During this class I learned about how much water I really use. I was surprised to learn that I actually use less than the average American. I found that I used about 60 gallons per day and the average American uses 151.8 gallons. Most of my water is used up by hygiene (57.8%). I also use water for drinking, toilet flushing and cleaning. I was surprised at how little of my daily water is used for drinking at only 0.4%.

     The country I chose to compare to was the U.K. I was surprised at how much less they use than Americans, even though they have very similar lifestyles. I thought it would be interesting to compare the two to show people how a country that is very similar to ours uses so much less water.

    We also wondered what it would be like to have to carry our daily water. To simulate this experience we took our very first FE to behind the Whole Foods and down to the Chicago River. I chose to carry my water in a 10 gallon rolling cooler. 10 gallons is ⅙ of my daily water intake so I would have to make this trip 6 more times for my total water. It took about 30 minutes to walk 1,800 feet. It took longer than I thought it would. My container was a lot harder to carry than I thought. It was also pretty challenging to get everybody’s containers full and ready to go. My nearest water source from my house is the Des Plaines River and is 1.3 miles it would take me 11.7 hours to carry all my water in 10 gallons coolers. If I had to ration my water usage I would probably start by taking shorter showers and not taking baths. I would also use hand sanitizer more to reduce the water wasted by washing your hands.

    This investigation sure has changed my views on water in the world. In fact I was driving home from school the other day and saw a fire hydrant spraying out water onto the ground, and I thought to myself, “Hey! Only 1.2% of the earth’s water is potable! Turn that off.”

CM. (2016) The Clear Truth

Sources:

"EPA WaterSense | Water Education & Our Water Cycle | Water Use Today." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 02 Sept. 2016. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

"Water - AMDEA." AMDEA Water Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.