AS13 - Water Use in the Home

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An Investigation to examine how much water is used by each person in your household.

Information on water use can be obtained from water bills or from the water meter if bills are unavailable.

The water meter is usually located just inside the roadside boundary of properties. After locating your water meter record the reading and date and time. 10 days later repeat the reading at the same time. To calculate the number of litres of water used subtract the first reading from the second.

Use this to calculate the number of litres used per person per day.

As a class draw up a table of each households daily per capita water usage.

Average daily water usage ranges from 850 to 1000 litres per person per day in rich countries to 20 to 70 litres per person per day in countries where there are public taps. This can be as low as 2 to 5 litres per person per day where no taps are available.

Draw a graph to depict the class daily per capita water usage.

What is the average daily per capita water usage for the households of the class?

What are the highest and lowest daily per capita water use amongst the households of your class?

In small groups brainstorm and draw a mind map of ways of measuring the water used by the following common household appliances and activities.

·           Shower

·           Bath

·           Toilet flush

·           Watering garden

·           Washing dishes

·           Dishwasher

·           Washing Machine

·           Brushing teeth

As a group decide on the methods you will use and each group member carry out measurements for their household.

Compile the results

Write a report of your investigation

As a class brainstorm and draw a mind map of ways people can reduce water usage in their houses.