Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
As a longtime resident of the Northeast, Dellapenna says this
means that declared water emergencies are much more common
today than 25 years ago in his part of the country, including New
England and the mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
New York, and Delaware. “In the Northeast we've generally been
able to deal with relatively modest water restrictions like no water-
ing of lawns or gardens, or no washing of cars outside of car washes
that recycle their water. We haven't had the kind of crisis they've
had in the Southeast, where there have been actual requirements
of serious reductions in water usage. But we (in the Northeast)
have had these problems on a recurring and frequent basis,”
Dellapenna adds.
TALLYING INDIVIDUAL WATER USE
For a moment, forget the massive amounts of water required by
the nation, region, or state, and consider what water scarcity can
mean to each of us at home. The amount of water used by a city's
residents can be overwhelming.
The average person uses about 80 to 100 gallons of water every
day at home—whether home is Portland, Oregon, or Portland,
Maine—for fl ushing toilets, washing, bathing, and other household
needs. That translates to each of us requiring about 36,000 gallons
of water a year, according to estimates from the U.S. Geological
Survey.
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(Those usage numbers vary, though, depending on how
they're determined, location, climate, and so on.) Atlanta, for
example, with its population of 429,500 (not including its suburbs),
would require nearly 15.5 billion gallons of water a year for home
use, based on the 36,000-gallons-per-person fi gure. Let's look at
more Atlanta numbers.
The city's geographic area covers the equivalent of 87,000
acres.
The USGS estimates that a one-inch rainstorm deposits
27,152 gallons of water on one acre, or 2.36 billion gallons of
water on Atlanta.
It would take more than six one-inch deluges to provide enough
water to satisfy Atlantans' annual water needs just at home.
