Documenting and Conserving Water
What are the consequences of wasting water and how can we help avoid them?
Water is a valuable and expensive resource. People use water for many purposes, including
agriculture and power generation as well as personal needs. You use large amounts of water every day
for drinking and washing and when using the toilet. You may use additional water in your kitchen for
cooking, as well as your yards, and gardens for irrigation and car washing. You also sometimes use water
for recreation.
In class we will go over in detail the various methods for treating wastewater (water after it has been
used). However, for now know that municipal utility services treat water before it is used and clean
water before it is reused. The utilities charge their customers for these services. For example in Prince
Edward County, Virginia the rate for water within the town of Farmville is $14.30 for the first 3000
gallons and then $2.20 per 1000 gallons. Outside of Farmville the rate is increased by 50%. The town
also charges the same rate again for removal of wastewater.
If water comes from a utility service, wasted water means wasted money. There are other financial
consequences of wasting water. Homes using well water must pay for energy to pump the water. All
homes must pay for energy to heat hot water. There are many other consequences of overusing water,
including the following.
• Overusing water can overload a septic system.
• In drought, wells can run dry
• In drought, imposed water restrictions impact everyone.
• Low stream and river levels hurt both recreation activities (e.g. swimming) and ecosystems.
• Overusing water means less water for other people.
• Low water supplies create a need for new supply reservoirs.
Some localities have special water supply issues to deal with. One important example is the Lake Gaston
pipeline project to supply water into tidewater Virginia (a normally rainy area). A 76-mile pipeline carries
water from Lake Gaston on the Virginia – North Carolina border to the Norfolk reservoir system. (For
more information on the 15-year legal battle between North Carolina and Virginia Beach over the inter-
basin transfer of water from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach, see: Virginia Beach Department of Public
Utilities at www.vbgov.com/dept/putility/gaston .)
People can become active in conserving water. A good way to start is to simply turn off running water
whenever it is not being used. Shower times can be shortened and the amount of water used in bathing
can be reduced. Households can install low-flow showerheads that have smaller holes. A large amount
of water is used every time a toilet is flushed. Some of this water can be saved by placing sealed bottles
into a toilet tank so that less water is flushed. More water-saving ideas were mentioned in class.
Directions: You will be inventorying your HOUSEHOLD water usage for 2 days, not just your personal
use. So if you have roommates or family members living with you, please include their use as well.
Fill out the following charts over 2 days, then calculate the total gallons used per activity.
http://www.vbgov.com/dept/putility/gaston
Home Water Use Inventory
Number of water users in the household (don’t include pets) ____________
BATHROOM:
Place a tick mark in the proper column each time an activity is performed. Add up the total number of
uses over the 2 days. Then calculate the total gallons used with this formula:
Total gallons used = number of gallons per use x total uses
Activity Gallons per use
Day 1 Day 2 Total uses Total gallons
Flushing older toilet 5
Flushing newer toilet (water-saving design)
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