Saving the Water that Sustains Us

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My experience saving water has been an interesting and eye opening one. Shorter showers are the greatest sacrifice as I find them therapeutic and cutting them in half (or to a third) is a hard adjustment, but a worthwhile one as I have calculated. Washing dishes with a dishpan seemed like a gross hassle at first, but again once tried it was worth the water it saved. I thought reusing dishwater for multiple scrubbings would be unsanitary but a final soaping and rinsing solved that problem. Watering in the early morning or later evening was the easiest water saving adjustment to make, it simply required remembering to do it.

Shower: 27 second gallon; Therefore a 15 minute shower consumes roughly 33 gallons of water, and a 5 minute shower uses 11.

Kitchen Sink: 34 second gallon; Therefore leaving the faucet running for 20 minutes a day consumes roughly 38 gallons of water, using a dishpan cuts water consumption in half for a savings of about 19 gallons a day.

Garden Sprinkler: 31 second gallon; Therefore leaving the sprinkler on for 1 hour consumes 116 gallons of water. Over the course of the hour one pint of 18 fl oz of water accumulated in the bucket during the mid day watering and 19 fl oz accumulated during the evening watering. According to this calculation roughly 5 percent of water used for irrigation is lost to evaporation on a hot day!

By cutting shower length to one third the pre PSP length 22 gallons of water were saved daily, a surprisingly large number. Although the sacrifice of shorter showers is a relatively hard adjustment to make it is worth it (and the fish are thankful). By using the dishpan to reuse scrubbing water the faucet is only on for roughly half of the pre PSP length. I thought that the dishpan would save more water but each dish must be rinsed following the dishpan usage so the savings were less than anticipated. The irrigation time adjustment saved the least water relative to the total amount consumed during the irrigation cycle, 66% savings for shower, 50% savings for dishes, and 5% savings for irrigation while shower consumed a total of 11 gallons, dishes consumed 19 gallons, and irrigation used 116 gallons (although irrigation does not happen daily and the others do).

Sustainability is a social obligation. It is unfair, unjustifiable, and inexcusable to live such luxurious lifestyles as we Americans do and not consider the effect that this lifestyle has on the environment; the environment that gives us life, more so than cars, iphones, or even medicine. Beyond considering our effect on the environment, we must do something to ease the harmful affects each of us place on our surroundings. Clean drinking water along with many other aspects of our natural environment are essential to life, and taking action to preserve this water is crucial to human rights, quality of life, and future generations. If everyone could cut their water consumption in half fresh water would be available to millions more people. Furthermore, consuming the earth’s resources today is unfair to those generations to come.

Saving the Water that Sustains Us

As the fossil fuel based, industrial development of our marble (planet) continues we are faced with two alarming problems: Arable soil degradation and erosion, as well as a shortage of the water needed to irrigate this arable soil. As the human population continues to expand, the demand for food increases, while the means with which this food is provided decreases. Water is the key to life, we may not understand the magnitude of the water shortage here in Oregon but this season those in agricultural areas around the rest of the country.

My plan is to reduce the amount of water that I consume. By participating in water-saving actions, measuring the difference they can make, and finally informing others on their plausibility and effectiveness. If everyone used half as much water, it would be as if there was twice as much water available for other processes. This plan directly addresses the problem at hand by conserving the resource we depend on while maintaining a state of luxury that is widely accepted by our culture. Therefore, it is a better way to address the problem than many other extreme or even diplomatic methods, after all one must practice whet they preach.

This project will be based on the collection of quantitative data, which can be applied to my entire household, or even Corvallis. The three methods of household water conservation that will be used are: not letting the water run while doing dishes, taking shorter showers, and irrigating the garden in the early morning or late at night when evaporation is reduced.

The status quo water consumption of each activity will be calculated by filling a 1 gallon bucket with water, timing how long it takes, and multiplying that time by the actual time spent performing that activity. The difference made by shortening showers, which deals simply with time, should be easy to find and compare. The dish washing strategy will be slightly more difficult, the water in the pan must be counted as well as anytime the faucet is on for rinsing. Measuring the garden irrigation method will involve placing the 1 gallon bucket somewhere beneath the sprinkler (same spot for both observations) and letting it run. The length of time required to fill the bucket will be measured in the middle of the day and during one of the recommended watering times and compared.

As mentioned before this plan does not require substantial sacrifice, therefore it will easily fit into my lifestyle, and should be easy to maintain following the PSP assignment. I feel as though these changes really can make a difference. Furthermore, I believe these simple actions are something everyone can participate in.

Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm), Films Media Group, and Learning Zone Express (Firm). Go Green Around Your Home. Films Media Group, 2010. electronic resource (video).

Agriculture in Urban Planning Generating Livelihoods and Food Security. Ottawa, ON : London ; Sterling, VA: International Development Research Centre ; Earthscan, 2009. Web. 27 July 2012.