Draft 1: Water Use and Conservation

This topic submitted by Gavin Sharp, Tom Heltzel, Craig Ebeling, Meagan Hubbard, Jesse Feister ( SHARPGW@muohio.edu ) on 10/9/03 .

Natural Systems 1 Syllabus---Western Program---Miami University

Water Use/Conservation Semester Project 10/10/03
Tom Heltzel
Gavin Sharp
Craig Ebeling
Meagan Hubbard
Jesse Feister

Water Use/Conservation Semester Project Proposal

1. Earth is 71% water. Our bodies are 65% water. Obviously, water is necessary for sustaining life , and we have only a limited amount available to us, as much for our water supply is full of salt or locked in the polar ice caps. That is why it's so important to conserve out supply of usable water. Since 75% of water is used in the bathroom, we decided to investigate how much water we really use and how we can reduce that amount. We hypothesize that we use much more water than we are aware of (especially girls), and that low-flow showers and toilets will make a dramatic difference in water conservation efforts.
Materials: paper, pens, buckets (1-3), large graduated cylinders (1-3).

2. Relevance: With approximately 16,000 undergraduate students, Miami University goes through huge amounts of water every day. But this is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of water used in the United States, or in the world. If we continue to consume water at this rate, we will soon run out. It is vital that we become aware of this problem and do what we can to solve it.

3. Specific research design: To determine the amount of water is wasted by shower use we will first determine the amount of water used in an average shower. We will determine the average rate of flow of a shower and then calculate the how much water is wasted. We will figure how much water could be saved by using low flow showerheads. We will determine the length of the average shower with a survey of random students and from this information we will also be able to see if gender has anything to do with water waste in the shower. On our survey we will ask length of shower and sex. With this information we can figure how much water is wasted by an average shower and weather males or females use more water.

4. Methods:
Showers-
1. Obtain 3 large graduated cylinders and buckets
2. In Z bathrooms in Peabody, Mary Lyon and Havighurst, run the water in one (or more) showers for one minute, using the bucket to collect water
3. Measure and record the amount of water collected
4. Survey the people in the dorms to find out how long and how often they shower
5. Use that data to determine the average amount of water used in the showers (divided by gender)
Toilets-
1. Find out how much water in the 3 dorms use (should be listed on the side of the tank)
2. Sit in the bathrooms for 10 minutes and count how many people use the toilets.
3. Use the data to determine the average amount of water the toilets use (by gender)
Conservation-
1. Find out how much water is saved, on average, by water-saving showers and toilets
2. Use that information, combined with out research, to determine how much water could be saved by switching to low-flow showers and toilets

***Unable to attach sources because it doesn't fit. Will be given to Professor Dorsey as soon as possible

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