Conservation+of+Freshwater+(2013+project)


 * Due to our close proximity to Lake Michigan and other freshwater resources around the Milwaukee area, the Challenge 20/20 program at University School of Milwaukee has focused on freshwater use so as to conserve the precious resource in our community in 2013. Water use in the local economy and the communities is widespread, partly due to the availability leading to low water rates. **
 * Since widespread use can lead to misuse, we are interested first in understanding how water use is being used in the city. Secondly, we need to understand what steps the city is taking to encourage efficient water use by consumers so as to conserve the resource. Finally, we need to examine what possible strategies for water conservation are available, but not being employed, and why this gap exists. **
 * Furthermore, our project consists of examining the tie between energy use and water use, so as to address two environmental issues by conserving water. **
 * ** Water in Milwaukee: **
 * ** City owned utility **
 * ** Treats water with Disinfectant ozone, kills microorganisms and destroys contaminants **
 * ** Cost: Very Cheap **
 * ** Five gallons for one cent **
 * ** 46 gallons/day >> $2.76 **
 * ** pays for purifying water, pumping it to your home, school, and business **
 * ** Declining Block Rate: Cheaper the more water you use **
 * ** High quality **
 * ** Leader in water testing since Cryptosporidium scare **
 * ** Meter Replacement Program **
 * ** Replacing residential water meters in Milwaukee, Greenfield, Hales Corners, and St. Francis **
 * ** Current meters are too old to ensure accurate meters and billings, identify plumbing leaks, track water usage and look for high usage that would indicate leaks, **
 * ** No additional charge **
 * ** Environmental Concern **
 * ** Supply-side conservation, water accountability, energy conservation, operational efficiency and consumer advocacy **
 * ** Business Friendly **
 * ** Declining Block Rate: Cheaper the more water you use (advantageous for manufacturing, other business operations) **
 * ** align regional freshwater research community and water-related industries to establish Milwaukee as a water hub **
 * ** Conservation: Using Water Wisely **
 * ** helps customers to find and repair water leaks to reduce water waste, control water costs, and conserve the water resource **
 * ** Use of billing data: identify customers with unusually high water use, work with customers to fix this **
 * ** fixing leaks, brochures and information **
 * ** Main focus of these programs is to address leaks or a different mechanical problem, rather than consumer use **
 * ** General Efficient Water Use ( [|__www.epa.gov__] ) **
 * ** System Users- residential users, industries, farmers **
 * ** system operators- municipalities, state and local government, privately owned suppliers **

Works Cited: "Conserving Water." //EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency//. N.p., 19 Dec. 2012. Web. 22 May 2013. . "How to Conserve Water and Use It Effectively." //EPA United States Environmental Protection// //Agency//. N.p., 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 22 May 2013. . //Milwaukee Water Works//. Milwaukee Water Works, n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. .