For my first unit of water, I learned about how much water is wasted and how little clean water is available. We did a lot of things in this class- we carried water from the Chicago River, and we made posters that show how much water countries use. I never knew how much water I consumed or how much water other countries consumed until I took this course. This course is an eye-opener because I now have an idea of how much water I use in a day. Taking showers and washing clothes are daily tasks I do not think about regarding water consumption. It blew my mind when I found out that I use 87. 39 gallons of water a day. Moreover, in comparison the average Japanese person uses 99 gallons per day and the average American uses about 151 gallons a day. With my 87 gallons of usage, 49% of my water usage comes from hygiene, 44% from drinking, 25% from washing, and 17% from flushing the toilet.
I realized it would be such a hustle to get water from my nearest source. I do not live by the Chicago River, and I live west of Lake Michigan. It is 4.3 miles to my nearest water source, and that is about a one-hour walk. If I were to commute both ways by foot, it would be about 2 hours just to get 5 gallons of water. I would have to take approximately 17 trips to the water source just to get water that is not even clean. I would have to clean it first; then I would be able to drink it and use it. These are just some of the immediate water problems. My experience carrying water was very hard for me. I helped some friends move about 200 lbs of water, and it was tiring. Water is about 8 pounds per gallon and at 5 gallons that are 40lbs. If you fill up five gallons five times, that's 200lbs. We had to take multiple stops along the way because of the weight.
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| R.G.2016 The world's water. Water poster |
