Unit 7: Unit 7: Science in the Bathroom: Keeping clean - Discussion

Water and Waste

Water is a seemingly abundant resource on the planet, but that perception would be incorrect. Although 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, less than 1% of that is potable — fresh water that people can drink and water crops with. The rest is unusable with about 97% of it in the oceans, which are too salty for these purposes.

The average American uses about 100 gallons of water per day, depending on how you calculate water usage. The majority of that water is used in the bathroom for bathing and flushing toilets. In the United States you can simply turn the faucet on when you need water, but others in many parts of the world are not so fortunate. Have you ever thought about where all of that water comes from or where it goes after it leaves your house? How do communities ensure that the water supply is safe? How do you ensure that the water you send down the drain does not harm the environment?

Review how wastewater is treated (the water that you send down the drain):

• Source: Retrieved from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuww.html

Additionally, review some information on drinking water:

• Source: EPA. (2013). Standards & risk management. Retrieved from http://water.epa.gov/drink/standardsriskmanagement.cfm    

Recently, researchers have started to look at the impact that common pharmaceutical and personal care products have on the water supply. Read up on what this means to you and the environment:

• Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Retrieved from http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/ppcp/   

In your posts this unit answer the following questions:

1. You have all heard that you should conserve water but this may seem odd depending on where you live. In an arid place like the southwestern United States it seems logical to conserve water, but in the Great Lakes region where water appears to be abundant, people are also encouraged to save water. Why are even those with an excess of annual rainfall being encouraged to conserve water?
2. Currently drinking and wastewater treatment facilities do not treat for pharmaceutical or personal care product pollutants. Why?
3. How should we, as a country, handle pharmaceutical or personal care product pollutants? Should they be handled through new treatments or through prevention? Explain your answer.
4. Review your local community, town, city, or state government’s website for information and policies on water conservation and wastewater treatment. Post one interesting point that you learned in your research. Be sure to provide the resource for the information with your post.
5. Later in the unit, compare your local government’s water policy information to one described by one of your classmates. Are there any similarities? Are there any differences?

Be sure to review the Discussion Board Grading Rubric provided in the Course Syllabus.

For help with citations, refer to the APA Quick Reference Guide.

Use this reference when referring to your text:

Trefil, J., & Hazen, R.M. (2013). The sciences: An integrated approach. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.