The Portal Opens Up… Around the House
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Mountain to Climb:
Navigators, your mountain to climb this week is to calculate how much water you and your family use on a daily basis, then come up with a detailed action plan that you can follow to help limit the amount of water you waste.
Seeking the Peak:
- Use this Water Usage Conversion Table to figure out how much water everyday tasks utilize
- Information Sheet about Indoor Water Usage in the United States
Beyond the Peak:
- Activity: Drip Calculator
- Article: Water Restrictions in California
Books:
- Novel: A Long Walk to Water –
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.
- Picture Book: One Well: The Story of Water Conservation –
This nicely illustrated, readable title about water conservation demonstrates that all the water on the earth (in the atmosphere, oceans, rain…) comes from one well–a well we depend on for survival. It covers water usage, pollution, and conservation topics.
Reaching the Peak:
Once you think you have reached the peak of this mountain, ask an adult for permission to leave us a reply explaining how you arrived at a solution. Your reply may not appear right away – don’t worry! – it has been sent to Portal Peak for review and will be posted soon. Remember, there is no need to give an email, your last name, or a website when leaving your reply, just leave those parts blank. For more information, head over to the Navigator’s Base Camp.
portalpeak.org 
My family uses about 454 gallons and 56 ounces of water every day.
One way we could save water is take shorter showers. Another thing we could do is try to wear clothes more than once before putting them in the laundry if they are not dirty. When we are brushing our teeth we should turn off the water when we aren’t using it. We could try to use colder water instead of waiting till it gets hot. If we take a bath, don’t fill the tub up all the way.
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My family and me use 4,828 gallons of water in a day. These are some ways we can reduce the Number of gallons used. Shower for less time, turn off water when brushing teath, use the dishwasher less, do not Wash clothes to much a day, lastly do not waste a lot of water when you are filling up your cup.
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Hi Nadim, thanks for seeking the peak this week! That’s a lot of water in one day, do you have a big family?
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Shower: 30 minutes= 150 gallons
Teeth brushing : = 16 minutes = 16 gallon
hands/face washing = 4 minutes = 4 gallons
dishwasher = 1 time = 15 gallons
clothes washer = 1 time = 25 gallons
toilet flush = 9 times = 27 gallons
glass of water = 16 times = 138 ounces
238 gallons + 14 ounces
we could save water by showering quicker
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Hi Jasmine, thanks for working to reach the peak with us. Your work is really clear! We love how you showed the time and gallons!
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My family does a good job on not using a lot of water. This is how we save…(we use 87.120 gallons) we take short showers, we sometimes wash our clothes all together. We don’t drink a ton of water, we drink milk and juice.(not me)
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Hi Alex, thanks for climbing this week’s mountain with us. Your family is doing a great job! Keep it up.
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Shower: 225 gallons
Teeth Brushing: 20 gallons
Hands/face washing: 14 gallons
Dishwasher: 15 gallons
Clothes washing: 25
Toilet flush: 30 gallons
Glass of water to drink: 80 ounces
The total is about 329 gallons and 80 ounces
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Hi Claire, thanks for climbing to the peak with us this week. We love how you showed how your daily water usage breaks down. From looking at your data do you have any ideas about how you can reduce your 329 gallons?
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My family and I in one day used 307 gallons and 32 ounces of water. We could save a lot of water by taking less time in the shower and start dishwashing with the dish washer.
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Hi Katelyn, thanks for seeking the peak with us this week. How much water does your family use washing dishes?
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My family uses 325 gallons of water💧each day. Here are some ways to help improve:
Take shorter shower.
Wash are clothes less. Maybe every other day
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My family uses 384 gallons and 80 ounces of water a day. We can take shorter showers, wash dishes quicker, not leave the water on when we brush our teeth, not that we do, but if we did, that could be a solution, have my brother ( little), start taking showers. That’s about all of the solutions I can come up with. All of the other solutions I can come up with.
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My family uses about 376 gallons of water each day. Plan: To take less long showers, and use the dishwasher more than washing dishes by hand
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My family uses 382 in a day
Some ways that my family can stop using as much water is taking shorter showers.
In a week my family uses : 2,674
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Hi Mary, thanks for climbing this week’s mountain with us. What portion of the 382 gallons came from showering? How long are your showers usually?
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I use 103 gallons and 80 ounces of water each day.
One thing that I can do for using less water is taking shorter showers and using a dish washer instead of washing by hand or/and drinking less water or using the bathroom less which some people can’t do but a least try.
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My family uses 342 gallons a day we could turn the faucet when brushing my teath I could wash dishes all by hand and take smaller showers
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Hi Christopher – thanks for climbing this week’s mountain with us. We were wondering where does most of your family’s water usage come from?
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My family uses about 144 gallons of water a day. Some ways to stop using as much water is not taking long showers, don’t leave the water on while brushing your teeth, and not drinking too much water because it wastes drinking water and when you go to the bathroom it wastes toilet water.
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