Water You Using?

Megan Klein – Peer Mentor, College of Engineering; Molly Gaffey, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design; Eric Oliveira, School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Terry Li, College of Engineering; Charles Bolocan, College of Engineering

Our presentation is the culmination of research and experimentation surrounding the use of water in our lives. Though it is such a valuable resource, our team began this process completely unaware of how much we used on a day-to-day basis. Thus, we decided to track our water usage with both normal and conservative habits. Through this experiment, we discovered not only the extent to which we utilize water, but also the extent to which our use can be redistributed within even one day. These findings led us to broader discussions about the overall distribution of water globally, other resources involved in its use, and how we may take this resource for granted. Ultimately, we found a new appreciation for our access to water and an improved understanding of its use around the world.

As a group with such interdisciplinary backgrounds, our initial brainstorm of the prompt “redistribution” led to numerous different ideas. However, after an extensive discussion of the word’s meaning and potential projects associated with it, our team was drawn to the distribution of natural resources. This resulted in our exploration of personal water usage within our daily lives. The differing experiences each brought to the team allowed us valuable insight into our topic and a greater sense of overall collaboration as a community.