Name: Water Use Calculator: Fair Oaks Water District

Transcription

1 Water Use Calculator Name: How much water do you use each year? You will examine your water use using an online water use calculator from the Fair Oaks Water District (FOWD) in Fair Oaks, CA. Visit the calculator at the link below and enter all requested information. Once complete, view the Total tab to secure the values to enter in the table below. Water Use Calculator: Fair Oaks Water District Enter the required information about your household s annual water usage into the table below. Do not leave cells empty; instead enter a zero where appropriate. To calculate the percentage for each category, simply divide the Total Household Use by the amount in each category. Per Year (gallons) Percentage of Total Outdoors Pool/spa Bathroom Kitchen Laundry Total Household Use Average Water Use per Person 1

2 Putting your water use in perspective Were you surprised by your household s annual water usage? Why or why not? How did your household s average water use per person compare with the national average of 65,335 gallons 1? 1 United States Geological Survey (1995): Which category accounts for the greatest percentage of your household s water use? Explain why you think that category was the largest for your particular lifestyle. A gallon of water weighs approximately 8.3 lb (3.7 kg), and 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 each person in your household uses for an average day, how many pounds (or kg) would you need to lift? Would being forced to carry the water you use cause you to more seriously consider ways to conserve water? 2

3 Critically evaluate ways to reduce your water usage Let s examine how small changes in lifestyle would affect your household s water usage. Using the colored tabs at the top of the calculator, choose a category that is in your top three highest categories for water use and make a reasonable change that would reduce water usage. Refer to the content modules that accompany this exercise for some ideas. Enter the change into the calculator and return to the Total tab to see the results. Repeat this procedure for two additional changes that are similarly large users of water. After each change, be sure to reset the values to their original numbers. Describe the changes and the resultant reductions in water usage in the table below. Change in Water Usage Reduction in annual water use (gal) Seeing the reductions in water use that these changes would yield, would you be willing to implement any of them? Explain why or why not. 3

4 Comment specifically on your outdoor water use. Was outdoor use one of your three largest categories of water use? If so, are there any approaches to save waters outdoors that you would be willing to embrace? Please explain why or why not. How much water can homes lose to drips and leaks? Slow drips and small leaks may seem inconsequential, but the water losses these sources incur over time can be rather large. To examine how much water can be lost this way, we ll use a drip calculator from the American Water Works Association. Access the calculator at the link below and answer the appropriate questions on the Activity Sheet. WaterWiser Drip Calculator: American Water Works Association, Copyright 2004, American Water Works Association. For additional information related to water issues, contact AWWA at or call Integrating losses to drips and leaks with overall usage Begin by calculating your water use per person, per day. Take your average water use per person per year from the FOWD calculator, and divide by 365 (no. of days in a year) to obtain the daily average. Enter that value below. 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. Let s 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 calculated 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). 4

5 Average Water Use Per Person per Day calculated from Water Calculator: gal Drips per Minute Daily Waste (gal) New Total Daily Water Use (gal) Percentage of Total Due to Leak 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 5 Percentage of Total Due to Leak (gal) Category with Closest Percentage from Initial Run of Water Calculator Does seeing the potential losses in leaks prompt you to check your home for leaking pipes and toilets? Explain why or why not. 5