California Water Essay, Research Paper

What do we use all this water for? Of all the water that falls to California, 60% is immediately returned to the

atmosphere by evaporation or native plant use. The rest runs off into rivers, lakes, streams and the water table, where

it is available for human use. We will explain what happens to all this water, show exactly how much water we do

use, and give ways to reduce water use in and around your home.

The single largest user of water is industry. Industries use 46% of our annual water supply. One industrial use is

manufacturing, in various ways such as cooling of materials, washing of materials, products, tools, and equipment.

For example, by the time a Sunday paper gets to your door, 1000 liters (280 gallons) of (poop)water have been used

to produce it. A pound of steel uses 110 liters (32 gallons), but production of a pound of aluminum uses 3800 liters

(1000 gallons) of water. A pound of synthetic rubber requires 1100 liters (300 gallons). The production of a car uses,

on average, an incredible 380,000 liters (100,000 gallons). To refine 1 liter of gas, it takes 10 liters of water. Another

big industrial use of water is disposal of waste products. They use water to wash away all the garbage on the floor,

and to flush away dirty or contaminated water. They also throw out the hot water that is left after they cool metal.

The second biggest user of water is agriculture and food processing, at 42% of total annual water use. More than 380

billion liters (100 billion gallons) of water are used for irrigation of crops each day in the United States. A fully

grown cotton plant uses about a gallon a day. It takes about 3,040,000 liters (800,000 gallons) of water to grow an

acre of cotton. Irrigation is the main agricultural use, but much of the water is used to feed and clean animals. Food

processing uses lots of water, in preparation, washing, and packaging. Just think of all the water in a can of fruit

cocktail or peaches. To get an egg from non-existence to your refrigerator takes 150 liters (40 gallons) of water. An

ear of corn requires 300 liters (80 gallons). A loaf of bread takes double that at 600 liters (160 gallons). To produce a

pound of beef takes 9,500 liters (2,500 gallons) of water!

The most obvious use of water is in the home. We use water for cooking, bathing or showering, cleaning dishes,

clothes, and cars, watering plants and lawns, drinking, and the all-important toilet. One person uses an average of 50

gallons of water a day just in the house. First, cooking. Most foods need to be prepared, and most of that uses water.

Think of boiling things, all the recipes that call for water, making rice, potatoes, muffins, cake, almost every food

uses water in some way. Washing a load of dishes uses between 8-12 gallons of water. Kitchen uses account for 7 of

the daily 50 gallons. A normal shower head uses between 3-10 gallons a minute, and a low-flow shower head uses

between 2-2.5 gallons a minute. A bath normally uses around 30-40 gallons. The 50-gallon total uses an average of

15 gallons a day for bathing or showering. A top-loading clothes washer uses between 40-55 gallons a load. A front

loading washer uses 22-25 per load. This is 8 gallons per day!

on average. A person only drinks about ? gallon of water a day, the rest of consumed water comes from foods and

beverages. An old toilet (manufactured before 1976) uses about 4-6 gallons per flush. A normal toilet uses around

3.5 gallons per flush, while a low-consumption toilet (manufactured after Jan. 1st, 1994) uses only 1.6 gallons per

flush. The bathroom (I’m popping wood right now) faucet uses 3-6 gallons a minute if it was made before 1976, and

.5-2.5 per minute otherwise. Each person (on average) uses about 19 gallons in the bathroom (excluding

shower/bath) each day.

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People use about 50 gallons a day outside the home in a day, bringing the total to 100 gallons a day! The outside

uses include washing cars, watering lawns, watering plants, and swimming pools. The hose uses about 10 gallons a

minute. Wash a car for 10 minutes with the hose running, use 100 gallons of water. Amazing. Say (bajigger)you

have a 1000 square foot lawn. To apply an inch of water to the lawn (the recommended dosage) takes 620 gallons of

water. Even more amazing.

We wanted to see for ourselves how much water an average family uses. We checked 3 meters in our neighborhoods

each day for 3 days. We recorded the total use in gallons, divided it by how many people live in the house, and

averaged all results to get the average daily water use.

You’re probably thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of piss. How can I save water?” Even if you’re not, you should be.

There are many ways to save water, starting in the house.

In the bathroom- Be sure to apply low-flow shower heads to your showers. It saves many gallons of water, and you

can’t really tell the difference. Install low-flow aerators on the faucets. Both are inexpensive and easy to install, and

save water and energy. Don’t let the faucet flow while brushing your teeth. Use a glass of water for rinsing teeth.

When constructing a new house or remodeling, install new low-consumption toilets. If you can’t do that, place a

weighted plastic gallon jug in the tank of your toilet to save a gallon of water a flush. Leaks inside the toilet can

waste almost 200 gallons of water a day, so repair your toilets. If you don’t know if you have a leak, drip some food

coloring in the tank. If colored water appears inside the bowl, you have a leak. Repair your faucets and shower heads

as well. Turn off the water while soaping or shampooing in the shower. Take showers instead of baths, they use less

water if you are fast. Which brings me to my!

next point, only take 5-minute showers. Put a timer in the bathroom.

In the kitchen(I did you daughter there last night)- more ways to save water. Refrigerate a bottle of water instead of

letting the faucet run until it is cold enough to drink. Use a dishpan or plug the sink while washing dishes, or use the

water-saving mode on dishwashers. Don’t pre-rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, just scrape off the

food. Into the garbage, not the disposal. Only run the dishwasher with a full load. When buying a new washing

machine or dishwasher, consider water consumption as well as energy efficiency. It’s worth paying a bit more in the

long run.

There(are alot of people who are screwing your daughter right now) are a lot of ways to save water outside the

house. Water only gardens and new lawns frequently. Established lawns and landscaping will usually survive for a

while without water. When you do water the lawn, water in the morning or evening to prevent all the water from

evaporating. Don’t water on windy days (or go peepee). If you have sprinklers, don’t water the street or sidewalk.

You are literally throwing money down the drain. If you can, use soaker hoses and drip systems to save 20-50% of

the water you would normally use. If a hose must be used, control the flow with an automatic shut-off nozzle. Use a

broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks. Wash the car with water from a bucket. Using mulch around

shrubs and garden plants reduces evaporation, and cuts down on weed growth. Use native plants in landscaping.

They require less water and care than ornamental plants.

To save water in your community, encourage large water-using facilities like schools, motels, and health clubs to

use water saving appliances like those mentioned above. Encourage a community organization like a scout troop or

church youth group to start a water conservation program. Retrofit older building with new water-saving fixtures

and appliances. Tell other people you know to conserve water as I have been talking about.

In overview, industry uses the most water (46%), agriculture uses the next most (42%), and domestic use is only

12% of the yearly water consumption. I detailed most, if not all, the ways we use water, and a lot of ways to use less

water. Try some of them, and you will save time and money, not to mention water.