Tag Archives: water

Water waste and solutions

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Water waste is a hugely important issue that is often overlooked. In many places, certainly more wealthy countries like the US, water is commonly taken for granted. For example, a leaky faucet may seem like no big deal, however in the long run it can be extremely wasteful. “One faucet leaking one drip per minute adds up to 34 gallons of water per year” (Washington Post). This is just for one leaky faucet; imagine how many gallons of water would be wasted with multiple leaky faucets across the United States and even in the world. Household leaks, including toilets and irrigation systems, can waste about 900 billion gallons of water annually which is a significant statistic. On average, each United States citizen wastes about 10 gallons of water a day due to leaks, most often without realizing it.

Some solutions to prevent this kind of water waste would be to make sure there is a proper irrigation system in place. If a system is installed correctly and managed properly, water waste can be reduced by 15%, or 7,600 gallons of water a year. This would make a major difference. However, there are some socioeconomic issues that come into play with the ability to reduce water waste. Some individuals that are less wealthy may not be able to afford proper irrigation system installment and certainly may not be able to keep up with management of the system if installed. There are things that can still be done regardless of socioeconomic status, such as taking shorter showers, only running full loads of laundry or dishes, and by turning off the faucet all the way after use. Also, all individuals are capable of looking for leaks in their pipes and even in their toilets to be aware if there is a problem and then take the necessary steps to reduce the leak or to fully fix it.

 

Works Cited

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/17/the-incredibly-stupid-way-that-america-wastes-1-trillion-gallons-of-water-each-year/

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts#:~:text=Water%20Stats,gallons%20of%20water%20annually%20nationwide.

8 Ways to Reduce Your Water Waste

Water Usage and Utilization

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Water is a necessity for us humans along with planet Earth. Humans can go much longer without food as they can without water. It is interesting to think that a lot of the food that we consume could not possibly be produced without water. For example, think of crops that need water into order to grow. Or, all of the water that livestock drinks that we eventually consume such as pigs. This idea alone shows how important water is in its comparison to food consumption.

Consider the following, “There is the same amount of water on Earth as there was when the Earth was formed” (epa.gov). Furthermore, “Nearly 97% of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves just 1% for all of humanity’s needs — all its agricultural, residential, manufacturing, community, and personal needs” (epa.gov). This idea is really hard for me to wrap my head around. I think about how much water I myself personally use on the daily. Then, I think about how many humans are on this Earth and how much water is used for humanity’s needs by the whole planet. This alone proves how much water is on this Earth. I find this fact so interesting seeing how human production as well as global warming has affected our water usage. In my opinion, bottled water is so popular because of the convenience of it. Consider, reusable water bottles have to be constantly washed and sometimes they are a bit pricey. Bottled water is convenient as once you finish the water, you can just throw away or recycle the bottle. If I had to estimate the bottle water consumption on Union College’s campus, I would estimate that around 50% of Union’s students drink bottled water opposed to water from the tap. Furthermore, I would average that of the 50% of bottled water drinkers, they drink at least 2 bottles of water a day. Based on Union College’s enrollment being around 2,300 students, 65% of that is 1150, multiplying that by 2, my estimate is that Union College consumes around 2,300 bottles of water per day.

 

Work Cited: https://www3.epa.gov/safewater/kids/waterfactsoflife.html

Bottled Water

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This week’s theme of water had me thinking about bottled water and the growing popularity of reusable water bottles within my generation. It got me thinking about the waste produced by bottled waters–how much CO2 would it take to produce enough bottles of water for each student on campus to get their necessary daily intake of water?

The average human needs to drink 3.7L of water per day, and each plastic water bottle is around 1L of water. There are 2,050 students at Union, and if everyone drank the recommended amount of water per day, that would total 7,585L of water, and 7,585 plastic water bottles. According to Luqel, to produce 500ml of a single use plastic water bottle it takes 82.9g of CO2. How much CO2 would be produced to create 7, 585L of plastic water bottles, then?

Well, 500ml is equivalent to .5L. .5L produces 82.9g of CO2. .5L doubled is 1L, and 82.9g doubled is 165.8g of CO2. To produce one 1L plastic water bottle, it takes 165.8g of CO2. For all of the 2,050 students of Union to drink 3.7L of water per day, it would take 1,257,593g of CO2(7585 x 165.8).

That is just for one day of water. For a year of water? It would take 459,021,445g of CO2.

This is just something to think about when considering reusable vs. one use plastic water bottles. Not to mention the microplastics!

Sheep Consumption of Water in the United States

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Sheep are are a staple of farms across the country not only for their relationship with humans as a food source, but also as a source of wool. Sheep are able to obtain most of their water needs from their food/forage consumption. However, they still are consuming water at a constant rate that is worth examining.Lambs weighing 5-10lbs consume roughly 0.1-0.3 gallons of water per head per day. Feeder lambs weighing in the range of 60-110lbs consume roughly 1 gallon to 1.5 gallons per head per day. Pregnant ewes weighing 175lbs and higher consume between 1-2gallons of water per head per day. Lactating ewes weighing 175lbs and higher consume between 2-3 gallons per head per day. Lastly, rams weighing 175lbs and higher consume between 1-2 gallons per head per day. Dirty or stale water on farms and livestock acreage can lead to a reduced consumption of water by sheep. Clean water is so important for the health of the livestock and the health of its meat for human consumption.

Obviously dirty or contaminated water is not ideal for animal drinking, but we can not expect every farm in the country to provide flawless and pristine water to its animals in a similar way that we cannot expect all cities to provide perfect drinking water to its inhabitants. Requirements for livestock water consumption is linked to size, productivity, diet and environmental conditions. Good water quality can lead to an increase of water intake while reduced water consumption can lead to dehydration- a problem which can be fatal to sheep and other livestock. Dirty water is a hotbed for diseases and bacteria and can spread rapidly if sheep drink from the same source.

Waterers can be disinfected using a dilute bleach solution following cleaning. A dilute bleach solution of 2 to 3 ounces for each 50 gallons of tank capacity of bleach containing 5.25% sodium hypochlorite applied weekly also will suppress algae growth. This disinfection is crucial to maintaining healthy drinking water supplies for sheep and other livestock.It is important to note that proper installation of the waterer or tank base will prevent fecal contamination of water. The base should be wide enough so animals are able to place their front legs on it easily while drinking, but not their hind legs. This will keep animals from defecating in the water which would lead to illnesses among sheep and other livestock. There are estimated to be 5.2 million sheep in the United States.

If we were to assume that it is an even 50/50 split between rams and ewes on farms, we can calculate a range of sheep water consumption in the United States per year. Male sheep, rams, can be estimated to be between 2,600,000 and 5,200,000 gallons of water annually. Ewe water consumption can be estimated to be between 2,600,000 gallons and 7,800,000 gallons.

Works Cited:
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/publications/livestock/livestock-water-requirements
https://www.statista.com/statistics/194403/total-number-of-sheep-and-lambs-in-the-us-since-2001/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sheep.asp

Water Waste and How to Combat it

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When people consider waste in regards to sustainability, they often consider physical garbage far before they consider water waste.  Water waste, however, is a major sustainability issue as, even though it doesn’t take the water out of the water cycle, but instead removes the water from being accessible and usable by humans.  It is also wasteful since it overly expends the energy used to deliver the water, such as in the overuse of the dishwasher or washing machine.   On the whole, water waste could lead to humans having less usable water readily available and can also take such water away from the environment.  As per the DOH, the average person wastes 30 gallons of water every day; some of this waste is due to human tasks, such as overly long showers and leaving faucets on while they are not being used.  Other reasons for water waste include issues such as unrepaired household leaks.  According to the EPA, the average household can waste 180 gallons of water a week from household leaks alone, which is 9,200 gallons of water wasted every year.  While this waste is very common, there are many methods that people can implement in their day to day life to combat this issue.  First and foremost would be to check their households for the aforementioned leaks and have them repaired to prevent any further issue.  Other simple tasks include turning off the tap when brushing teeth, which would save 8 gallons of water a day, and therefore 2,290 gallons of water a year.  One last common occurrence that would save water in the average household is running the dishwasher only when completely full; this alone would save 320 gallons of water per household per year.  Water waste is a common, overlooked issue, but by changing the way we implement some household tasks, we can save many gallons of water from being wasted every year.

 

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts

https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2014/09/23/does-wasting-household-water-remove-it-from-the-water-cycle/#:~:text=Rather%2C%20wasting%20water%20hurts%20humans,away%20from%20the%20natural%20ecosystem.

Money Given To Wastewater and Drinking Water Infrastructure Projects In New York

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Good news for New York State. On April 7th, the Governor of New York State announced that the State Environmental Facilities Corporation Board of Directors has approved more than $189 million in funding for nine municipalities and public authorities for critical wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects. The purpose of these projects is to modernize the water systems to ensure safe drinking water for all New Yorkers. The nine municipal regions are the Capital Region, Central NY, Mid-Hudson area, Long Island, Mohawk Valley, New York City, the North Country area, and the Southern Tier area.
The Environmental Facilities Corporation is urging municipalities to participate in the Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey which was kicked off in New York on March 1.

This should improve the water systems in New York over time.

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-189-million-fund-water-infrastructure-projects

Wasting water and resources is much easier than you may think…

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Humans and animals drink a lot of water daily. It is critical to our survival, but the way that we choose to drink water has a huge impact on sustainability. An example of animal consumption of water is a cow. A cow can consume up to 100 gallons of water per day. One huge form of water waste is the production of clothing. It takes about 2700 liters of water to make the average t-shirt, which is clearly a huge amount of water waste to make one t-shirt. One pair of jeans takes about 7600 liters of water to produce, which means that it takes 10,300 liters of water to make a simple outfit. This also means that thrifting even just one outfit will save about 10,300 liters of water! It would be even better if people kept thrifting to decrease the amount of clothing production that has to occur around the world, therefore decreasing the waste of water. We can all wear clothes that are already in the world instead of buying new ones as a more sustainable option. 

Additionally, I think that bottled water is so popular because it is convenient. I know that my family members who use plastic water bottles just think that they make life easier because they can throw them out when they are done and they do not need to take care or keep track of a reusable water bottle. The average person drinks about four water bottles per day and because there are about 2,700 people (about 2,100 students and 600 faculty and staff members) on Union College’s campus, there are about 10,800 bottles of water consumed on the campus. Water bottles are about one liter of liquid, meaning that I estimate that 10,800 liters of water are consumed on Union’s campus. It takes 1 liter of oil to create four water bottles. I estimate that the amount of oil needed to produce the 10,800 bottles of water would be 2,700 liters of oil, which means that a lot of fossil fuels need to be burned for this production. Transporting the water also uses a huge amount of oil. It depends where the water comes from, but a ten hour plane ride uses 150,000 liters of oil which would clearly add to the fossil fuel emissions used to produce water bottles by a large amount. 

 

Citations: https://www.peta.org/features/california-drought-stats/

https://greenactioncentre.ca/tip-of-the-week/14-ways-to-reduce-water-waste/

https://blog.arcadia.com/how-many-water-bottles-does-one-reusable-bottle-save/

Wasted Water and What We Can Do

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Water is critical to all forms of life on our planet.  Without water, humans would not survive.  However, based on the statistics, it doesn’t seem that we place as much importance on water as we should.  In the US alone, a family can waste 180 gallons of water per week.  Even something as seemingly simple as letting the water faucet run for 5 minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water.  As of 2015, each American was estimated to use an average of 82 gallons per day.  This wasted water has real affects on the United States, with 40 out of the 50 US states expecting some form of water shortage in the next decade, as was reported by a 2014 Government Accountability Report.  For something so vital to our very being, mankind sure doesn’t treat water that way.  The wasting of so much water annually can have serious ramifications on future generations’ water supply and we can even see some of these water supply issues faced today.

Water wastage not only harms ourselves and the environment but also harms people financially.  It is estimated that more than $380 could be saved annually solely by using WaterSense labelled fixtures and ENERGY STAR certified appliances.  Despite the negative statistics there are ways to manage and curtail the current wasting of water.  Apart from using certified appliances, doing certain small tasks such as turning off the faucet while brushing can have massive affects in the long run.  By turning off the tap while brushing, roughly 8 gallons of water per day could be saved.  Just simply turning off the water while brushing for 2 minutes could potentially save 2,920 gallons of water annually.

There is no one easy solution to stop the current situation of water wastage, but by being aware of the problem and actively looking for small ways to cut your own wasting of water, massive changes can be made slowly over time.

Works Cited:

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts#:~:text=Water%20Stats,gallons%20of%20water%20annually%20nationwide.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/06/06/189192870/when-you-waste-food-youre-wasting-tons-of-water-too

 

Water we doing?

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Agriculture uses an incredible amount of water each year. Meat from cows alone uses a global average of 15 400 m 3 /tons of water (“Water footprint of crop and animal products: a comparison”). This number increases when considering the farming process. Agriculture isn’t the only culprit for water use and waste. The EPA states that an average U.S. “family can waste 180 gallons [of water] per week or 9400 gallons annually” (“Statistics and Facts | US EPA”).  It is common for American families to water their lawns which is an incredible waste of water. To put it in perspective, watering an average size lawn for 20 minutes daily uses the same about of water as 800 showers or a year worth of showers for an average family (“Statistics and Facts | US EPA”). If we stop watering lawns which is not a necessity and rather just for appearance, we could save a large amount of water. the average shower uses 17.2 gallons of water so every family who waters their lawn would be saving 13,760 gallons annually (“Shower In an average home”).

I think that bottled water is popular because it is convenient and people trust it more than they may trust the water from their faucet. Along with this, some people don’t like the taste of the water at Union, especially so they opt for bottled. I estimate that 1,000 students on campus drink about two, one-liter bottles of bottled water a day from the bookstore. If we are on campus for 210 days per year I estimate that the campus consumes 420,000 bottles of water each academic year. It takes 1/4 liter of oil to produce a liter bottle, therefore 1.1 x 10^5 of oil is used to produce the water bottles that Union consumes. The Most popular water at Union is essential which is from WA. It takes around 18,000 gallons of fuel to fly from WA to JFK and another 8.66 gallons to drive from JFK to Union if the vehicle is getting 20 miles to the gallon. Therefore it takes roughly 18008.66 gallons of fuel to transport water to our campus.