Earth Science Lab

Lab details
Locate a dripping water faucet (or set a faucet to drip). Collect the water that drips from the faucet over a selected period of time (in a container sufficient to hold the water). Calculate the amount of water (in gallons) lost per unit time. Calculate how much water would be lost in one year from this drip. 

1. Determine the cost of water per thousand gallons of water (from local water board or a water bill). Calculate the cost of the drip per year from the information you have. 
2. Determine the amount and cost of the water you use in taking your shower regularly. You will need to set the shower faucet as you normally do. Record the time in minutes it takes you to shower, determine the amount of water used (by catching it and measuring it somehow) in one minute, and then calculate the gallons used, the cost per shower, and the cost year using the procedure outlined above for the dripping faucet. 
3. Next, you are to compare the amount of water used by taking your regular shower vs. the amount of water consumed in taking a “military shower” (alternately turn the water off and on to save as much water as you can). 
4. Calculate the savings of water and cost for one year to take your regular shower vs. a military shower. 
5. Calculate the flow rate of your kitchen sink per minute. Estimate how many minutes the faucet might be on over the course of one day. How much water would you estimate goes straight from tap to drain?
6. How many toilets are in your home? Are any of them low-flow toilets? Suggest a way to make a low-flow toilet out of a regular-flow toilet.
7. Identify at least three ways in which you can decrease water use anywhere in the home.
8. Assuming a use of 10,000 gallons per month per household, estimate how much water must be available to support your local town population?
9. What is the source(s) of your local water supply?
10. Are there any pollution issues with this water source?

Deliverables:
You will submit a properly formatted paper for this lab. Please submit a discussion of your experience with this activity including a description of the data that you gathered, all of the calculations that you performed and answers to the questions. Please include a data log or table of all of the data that you collected and include all calculations.

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• 3-4 pages in length
• 1-2 outside sources
• Formatted according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements (Links to an external site.).