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Saving Our Future By Tom Barrett

Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

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Tom Barrett WaterWise project

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Page 1: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

Saving Our Future

By Tom Barrett

Page 2: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” Thomas Fuller (1732)

Page 3: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

The Investigation

The purpose of this investigation is to see how much water my family uses on a daily basis and how our consumption can be reduced.

Page 4: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

Steps involved

1. measure water consumption morning, afternoon and evening

2. design an action plan to reduce water consumption

3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the action plan

Page 5: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

Data collection

The typical times I collected water readings were:

Morning reading = 8:15am

Afternoon reading = 3:20pm

Evening reading = 8:30pm

Page 6: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

INITIAL 7 days

1 2 3 4 5 6 70

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Morning usage Afternoon usage Night usage

Consumption in liters

DAY

Page 7: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

How my INITIAL data informed our action plan

In the initial week I noticed the greatest water usage was is in the afternoon-night. During the day no one is home. The family all shower in the evening and the dishwasher is also used in the evening.

Our water usage increased significantly on the weekend. Saturday is “wash day” and several loads are done. Our water usage spiked on Saturday.

Page 8: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

action planMy action plan entailed:

Use a timer to reduce shower times

Use buckets in the shower to collect water for the garden

To run the dish washer less often and only when full

Run the washing machine only on the weekend when there is a full load, small items would be hand washed.

Page 9: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

What my family thought about my plan

Water conservation has always been a priority in my family so my family were ready for the challenge.

My parents lived on a farm where the only water was gathered from the rainwater tanks

As a result mum and dad have always been aware of the need to conserve water and use it wisely

Therefore everyone was happy comply

Page 10: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

Our official water usage

I don’t know if this is because there are quite a few units and town houses in the area that share a garden and generally are occupied by singles and couples but not families with kids.

Our excess water bill is always lower than our friends though according to our recent bill, we are above the average usage for Shenton Park.

Page 11: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

What I expect the outcome of the action plan might be

I think my plan will work as we have always tried to conserve water.

However, the real test will come in the summer months when we run the reticulation.

Page 12: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

Data collected during the 14 day action plan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Morning usage Afternoon usage Night usage

Consumption in liters

DAY

Page 13: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Morning usage Afternoon usage Night usage

Consumption in liters

DAY

Data collected during the action plan

Page 14: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

How effective my plan wasThe plan did seem to work except our water

usage was not significantly lower because we have always been quite conscious of our water use.

I suspect that the action plan would have really been put to the test had measurements been taken during the summer months when we are allowed to use our reticulation.

Page 15: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

How easy the plan was to implement.

Measuring our water use has made us more aware of the huge amount of water we still use. As family we have started to think of ways that we can further reduce our usage.

Page 16: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

Future plansThis assignment got the whole family talking about

water usage. Ideas we discussed were:

Re-use the grey water from the washing machine. This will require a filter system and some expert advice. (Neighbour has a company designed to conserve water)

Re-direct the water from our evaporative air-conditioner into the garden

Install a rain water tank

Page 17: Tom Barrett waterwise assignment

What I learntSmall changes in our water usage can add up to

much bigger changes.

If the water my family saved was multiplied by every member in my class, the savings can be enormous.