I estimated the amount of water used doing laundry per year for myself. Being a college student, I live in an apartment and I use the washers that are provided to me. These washers are very old and I am assuming that they are inefficient. Inefficient washers use around 30 gallons per load as opposed to a high efficiency washer which uses a lot less. I assumed that I do around one load per week, which means that I would use 30 gallons of water every time I do laundry. There are 52 weeks per year, so I multiplied 30 gallons by 52 to get 1,560 gallons of water used per year.
After reading the New York Times article, it became even more evident to me how global warming is effecting the planet, especially our water supply. As the days become hotter, more water evaporates from reservoirs and the demand for water is only increasing. Global warming is also causing the weather to change and rainfall to be more unpredictable. I think that Penn State needs to have more high efficiency washers so that we can save more water when students are doing laundry. In my calculation, I used 3o gallons as my average per load and if Penn State could switch just one washer to be more efficient, it could use 15 gallons per load. This would in turn cut the gallons of water used per year in half, which saves 780 gallons of water. In conclusion, we could save so much water if the washers were more efficient.
\[ 1 \text{ person} \times \frac{1 \text{ load}} {30 \text{ gallons}} \times \frac{1 \text{ week}} {1 \text{ load}} \times \frac{1 \text{ year}} {52 \text{ weeks}} = 1,560 \text{ gallons per year} \]
Bibliography:
Dickinson, Mary Ann. “Crisp, Clean Clothes without the Waste.” Home Water Works,
Alliance for Water Efficiency, www.home-water-works.org/indoor-use/
clothes-washer. Accessed 30 Sept. 2019.