WH2O--Channel 11 News Team
Your Source for Water Wisdom
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WH2O--Channel 11 News Team Your Source for Water Wisdom |
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Water Conservation by Kari Click here for printer friendly version of this information. |
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The WH2O News Team and Members of the Moultrie Rotary Who Pledge to Conserve Water Photo taken by Lance |
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| Essential Questions: What is the overall consumption or use of water in the world, nation, and Georgia? Is water conservation important? If so, what are ways that people can conserve water? What organizations exist to promote water conservation? | |
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by Kari |
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According to the H2ouse webiste , the average shower is 8.2 minutes and the average flow rate is 2.2 gallons per minute. So, the average American uses 18.04 gallons of water per shower! The average faucet flow per minute is 1.3 gallons per minute. If you're brushing your teeth for 1.5 minutes, that's 1.95 gallons of water you use every time you brush your teeth if you leave the water on. Those are just two teeny, tiny examples of water that you could save everyday by simply taking shorter showers and turning off the water when you brush your teeth! According to Stacy Shelton of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Metro Atlanta's water planners are backing off a plan to force property owners to replace old, inefficient toilets, shower heads and faucets before they sell their homes and businesses." By 2030, the mandate was expected to save as much water as unincorporated Forsyth County currently uses. This could have been a major win in the battle against water waste! According to the Forsyth County Government website, "In Forsyth County, the 22,000 customers of the Water & Sewer Department use an average of 6.2 million gallons a day. But in the summer, when demand is highest, water usage jumps to 9.6 million gallons a day."
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"Faucet Water Use." H2ouse. California Urban Water Conservation Council. 23 Jan. 2006 <http://h2ouse.org/tour/details/element_action_contents.cfm?elementID=1D4BABB7-8E4C-4524-98836EECCC5AEE08&actionID=11252FC5-E889-45A5-A088549C8CF50361&roomID=8183044A-3219-48E2-A965ACB77A568AC4>.
"Showerhead Water Use." H2ouse. California Urban Water Conservation Council. 23 Jan. 2006 <http://h2ouse.org/tour/details/element_action_contents.cfm?elementID=D4D1D449-3191-4C6A-91001A97C2FC4A2E&actionID=11252FC5-E889-45A5-A088549C8CF50361&roomID=8183044A-3219-48E2-A965ACB77A568AC4>.
"Water Use." Forsyth County Government. Forsyth County Government . 03 Feb. 2006 <http://www.co.forsyth.ga.us/DeptPage.asp?DeptID=28&PageID=189>. Shelton, Stacy. E-mail interview. 01 2006.
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by Kari |
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Water conservation should be important to all of us since water plays a huge role in everyone's life. With the average Georgian's water usage being a whopping 168 gallons, there's no reason why we shouldn't conserve. Taking 3 showers a day or staying in the shower for 45 minutes wasting gallons upon gallons of water for no reason are reasons why we need to think about our water usage.
Water is a renewable resource, but hardly any of the water on earth is fresh. With such little fresh water, and that water being contaminated at a high rate it is crucial that we conserve now and always!
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"Commentary For Water Conservation, Pricing Trumps Prohibition." Georgia Public Policy Foundation Home Page. 28 May. 2004. Georgia Public Policy Foundation. 23 Jan. 2006 <http://www.gppf.org/article.asp?RT=20&p=pub/Water/envwateruse040528.htm>.
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| How Do We Conserve? by Kari | |
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Picture from Microsoft Clipart |
You can save water by using water left over from a bath by
watering plants and kind of recycle it, not spend so long in the
shower, and turning off the water when you brush your teeth.
Simple things like this can help conserve. In Stacy Shelton's article, Atlanta to State: Dry up! "Savannah started a water conserving toilet giveaway program in the late 1990s. About 400 toilets were given away in the first year," said Mary Elfner, an environmental consultant in Savannah and the state's former water conservation coordinator. Organizations exist to help promote water conservation like:
Georgia Dept. Of Natural Resources Water Conservation Program
http://conservewatergeorgia.net
Georgia Conservancy's Water Department http://georgiaconservancy.org/WaterQuality/WaterQuality.asp
Georgia Rural Water Association
These are just a few of the many organizations that are concerned about and promote water conservation. If we all work together we can make our city, state, country, and world a better and more water efficient place. Click here to check out our Superconserver commercial about how to save water! Wonder Water and Superconserver battle the evil Dr. Ochlochnee!
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"Save Water 49 Ways." American Water and Energy Savers. 1999. American Water & Energy Savers. 23 Jan. 2006 <http://www.americanwater.com/49ways.htm>. Shelton, Stacy. E-mail interview. 01 2006.
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by Kari
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Picture from Microsoft Clipart |
If we all chipped in and were more
"water friendly" we would save lots of water and have a better
environment to live in and have water for tomorrow. As we live
in a wasteful world today, we should do the right thing and
conserve our water and other natural resources then we can live
happier, healthier, and more water friendly lives. With the
average person using 50 gallons of water per day, we can cut
down tons of gallons by using easy steps to conservation and
using our resources. By saving our water and taking care of our
water supply we can be sure to have plenty of water for many
years to come.
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"Water." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. 2006. Encyclopędia Britannica Online School Edition. 23 Jan. 2006 <http://school.eb.com/elementary/article?articleId=390625>.
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Conservation Proclamation--Getting Involved in the Fight to Save Water by Kari |
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Field Reporter Kari Couric Live at Moultrie Rotary Club
Reporters Reed Kronkite and Savannah Zahn with Rotary President, Michael Helms
Reporters Matthew Powers and Brian Louder |
Field reporter Kari Couric visited the Moultrie
Rotary International meeting to collect data on their water
usage. To see a copy of the survey
questions in Microsoft Word,
click here.
25 members of the Rotary completed the survey. Kari entered the data into Microsoft Excel. To see a copy of the chart, click here.
Using water usage conversion information from the United States Geological Service website, the total water usage was obtained.
Click on the link to the USGS website and calculate your own water usage.
Kari and her expert news team reported the Rotary survey results live at the February 2006 Rotary meeting. Click on the link to see a video of this live report: Moultrie Rotary Water Usage and Conservation Report with News Anchor Kari Couric.
To see this report in a PowerPoint, click here.
Members of the Rotary were asked to be more Water Wise by implementing a "Plan of Action" to save water. To see the plan of action presented to Rotary members, click here. You can start a program to save water in your community too! Just use our "Conservation Proclamation surveys and plans.
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"USGS Home Page." USGS Home Page. United States Geological Society. 17 Feb. 2006 <http://www.usgs.gov/>. |
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