Aiyanna Tate

Like many things we take for granted, water is something we have abused
time and time over. Water Is decreasing every second, with toilets flushing, showers
running, and faucets dripping. Even though the renewable resource (water) covers
over seventy percent of the Earths surface, humans can use less than one percent
of it. The future is only a few steps away, but with the future what will become of
the freshwater recourse we call renewable and precious? The way our water is being
used now and the rapidly decreasing amount does not leave a healthy amount of
room for the next generation. The government should have the right to control the
amount of water its citizens are allowed to use.
In the United States of America, the average citizen uses about eighty to one
hundred gallons of water per day (WaterSense), and according to Nancy L. Barbers
Summary of Estimated Water Use in the United States in 2010, About 355,000
million gallons per day. Homes are said to use more than half of publicly supplied
water in the United States, which is so much more than the industrial and business
usage put together. While the population and the demand on freshwater resources
are increasing, supply remains constant and many regions are starting to feel the
pressure. Says Watersense, United States Environmental Protections Agency, and
The Office of Wastewater Management. Many water shortages have been found in
the next ten years in major cities, leaving our citizens feeling unprotected.
According to the Mojave Water Agency and the American Water Works Association,
an average family uses eight hundred eighty-one million gallons of water a week
just by flushing the toilet and the average bath uses thirty-seven gallons of water.
Over water is to blame for much of the excess demand, locals say (Daley). Over
watering takes a toll on the environment and on your own plants. Al Renzi a water
superintendent who was interviewed by Beth Daley states, "It's frustrating because
you know the water does not need to be running down [the sidewalk] and people
are probably overwatering." The government should have the right to control water
usage to avoid controlled water abuse just like this.
Cost is high in water usage, in fact, an average monthly bill for water in big
cities in the United States from a survey in two thousand ten states that water costs
per month will range from twenty-five to seventy dollars. The price of water in the
United States went up forty-one percent since two thousand ten. But, the average
water cost per one thousand gallons comes out to about one dollar and fifty cents.
Thats actually less than a penny, says the American Water Works Association. But,
heres the thing over the years, water has become scarce, drought tend to happen
more often and according to Daniel C. Vock, Water utilities -- many of them
government agencies -- increasingly are worried that their services will become
unaffordable to low-income customers. In his article Vock also talks about why the
price will increase. Over the years water pipes that run quickly into households and
supply them with water have been breaking down, causing lead and flint to travel
into the water pipes and contaminate them. The government estimates that the
cost to fix water pipes in a large city would estimate around one point three billion
dollars and then some. Even in Atlanta, Georgia the typical and sweet family of four
can pay around one hundred and fifty dollars a month!
In conclusion, no one knows what exactly the future can hold for us. But
based off the evidence of the cost of water, how much residents of Atlanta pay and
how much it would cost for a city to replace water pipes that poison our water and
the conclusive facts that many have realized and are no where near perfecting on

the usage of water, I can tell you that predicting the future of water in the United
States isnt that difficult. From where we are heading as a country, how the citizens
of the United States of America take many things for granted and dont realize how
wealthy and luxurious our lives have continued to be, our water recourse, the
recourse that we have called renewable for so many years will not only drain our
pockets, but drain out of our grasp leaving us poor and desperate for the past where
water was available. In order to avoid this very unpleasant future of high costs and
no water, the government should be allowed to control our water use.

Works Cited
Daley, Beth. Concerns Are Rising on Water Overuse. 8 Jun. 2008. The Boston
Globe. 29 Apr. 2016.
< http://www.truth-out.org/archive/item/84480:concernsare-rising-on-water-overuse>
Maupin, M.A., Kenny, J.F., Hutson, S.S., Lovelace, J.K., Barber, N.L., and Linsey, K.S.
Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010. 5 Nov. 2014. U.S.
Department of Interior. 29 Apr. 2016. <http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1405/>
The Story of Drinking Water. 2002. American Water Works Association. 29 Apr.
2016.
< https://www.fcwa.org/story_of_water/html/costs.htm>
The Water Supply in the U.S. 23 Feb. 2016. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
29 Apr. 2016.
<https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/supply.html>
Walton, Brett. Water Pricing Story Makes Headlines. 22 Jun. 2015. Water News. 29
Apr. 2016.
< http://www.circleofblue.org/2015/world/water-pricing-storymakes-headlines/>
Wisniewski, Nicole. "The Rising Cost of Water." Aug. 2013. Masterscapes. 29 Apr.
2016.
< http://masterscapes.com/news/detail/the-rising-cost-of-water>
Water Questions & Answers How much water does the average person use at
home per day? 3 Feb.
2016. U.S. Department of Interior. 29 Apr. 2016.
<https://water.usgs.gov/edu/qahomepercapita.html>