Nature of environmental problems PDF

Running head: THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS 1
THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Institution’s Name:
Student’s Name:
Due Date:

THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS 2
The Issue: The average American uses approximately 100 gallons of water per day. That means,
on average, my family uses 6210 gallons per month or 69552 gallons of water per year. Now
using my water bill from May, I calculate how much money I spent by dividing the monthly rate
on the water bill by the amount used. I paid $22.42 for water and I used 5000 gallons (for the
month of May), so $22.42/500gal = $0.004 per gal. Now multiply the price per gallon by the
total gallons used per year $0.004x 69552=$278.20; is that cheap or expensive? Is that a lot of
water used?
That is not a lot of water used and the water bill is cheap for the normally daily house hold
activities
The Assignment: Using the Table 1 on the last page, record your daily household water usage for
a 7-day period week. Then go to the USGS web page https://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-
percapita.html to calculate your water usage per week and record the number and units
(calculator is daily, but do it for the entire week; make sure to change your units from “day” to
“week”). Once you have done this, answer the following questions using Chapter 13 and 20 and
other sources as references. Make sure to add a literature cited section.
Day Sun Mon Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat
Category/date Weekly
category
total
Daily
Ave.
(total/7)
#Baths 2/72gal 1/36gal 0/0 1/36gal 1/36gal 1/36gal 2/72gal 288gal 41.14gal
#Teeth
Brushings
10/10 8/8gal 9/10gal 10/10ga
l
8/10gal 9/8gal 10/10ga
l
66gal 9.4gal
#hand/face wash 15/15ga 10/15gal 15/14ga 13/15ga 13/15ga 11/10gal 15/16ga 100gal 14.3gal

THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS 3
l l l l l
#face/leg
shaving
3/’3gal 1/1gal 2/2gal 1/1gql 1/1gal 1/1ga/ 2/2gal 11gal 1.6gal
#showers 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 35showers 5
Ave. Shower
length (min)
5mi 5min 5 min 5min 5min 5min 5min
Shower gallons 50gal 50gal 50gal 50gal 50gal 50gal 50gal 350gal 50gal
#toilet flushes 10/30ga
l
8/24gal 11/33ga
l
10/30ga
l
11/33ga
l
13/39gal 9/27gal 216gal 30.8 gal
#of 8 oz. glasses
of water from
tap
5/40oz 6/40oz 5/40oz 4/36oz 5/40oz 6/40oz 4/36oz 272oz 38.9oz
#dish washer
loads
3/30gal 3/30gal 2/20gal 2/20gal 4/40gal 3/30gal 3/30gal 200gal 28.6gal
#dish washing
by hand
1/10al 1/10gal 2/20gal 1/10gal 1/10gal 2/20gal 1/10gal 90gal 12.9g1l
#clothes
washing loads
1/25gal 1/25gal 1/25gal 5/125ga
l
1/25gal 1/25gal 8/200ga
l
450gal 64gal
Daily Total
from USGS
Calculators
285gal 239gal 250gal 333gal 270gal 279gal 435gal 2043gal 291.9gal
1What is your first and last name
2. What was your water use by category, by day, and over a 7-day period?
a. Enter your information in Table 1 on the last page
b. For each day and category, calculate your daily water use using the USGS calculator
https://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-percapita.html and transferring your daily totals to the table.