RED2614- Discussion Questions
Answer 24 questions.
1. Rainwater harvesting is used for what household task?
Rainwater harvesting is used often for supplemental needs such as gardening.
2. Who typically uses a private water system versus a municipal water supply?
Most of us rely on municipal water supply, but rural homeowners typically rely heavily on private water
systems.
3. There are three components to water purity. What are they?
Water source, wastewater treatment, and contaminants/issues.
4. There are three components to water function. What are they and describe them?
White water (turbulent/fast), gray water (wastewater from sinks), and black water (wastewater from
toilets).
5. What is a typical smell or taste to well water that makes it unattractive? What do you do for
it?
Contaminated water tastes and smells off and can be treated by a variety of solutions:
Activated Charcoal Filters
Fiber & Mechanical Filters
Reverse Osmosis
Distillers
6. What does NSF stand for, and what does it mean?
NSF stands for the National Science Foundation, and it is a certification for things related to water and
beyond.
7. What is the difference between POU and POE?
Point-of-Entry (POE) is how the water is delivered, and the Point-of-Use is how the water is used.
8. What are examples of how we treat water coming into our homes?
When we filter the water that comes in through the sink into drinking water.
9. What is hard water and what do you do about it?
Hard water is a mineral build-up of Calcium & Magnesium and can be fixed by using water softeners or
soap and detergent.
10. What is the difference between soap and detergent?
Soap helps remove the dirt, but detergent has ingredients that soften the water.
11. What is water descaling?
Water descaling operates by magnetically charging the water and preventing the buildup of limescale
deposits on faucets and pipes.
12. When do we use soft water and when do we want to use hard water? How do we convert the
water from hard to soft?
We drink hard water and clean, soft water. We convert the water from hard to soft by using a water
softener and brine tank.
13. How much water does a kitchen faucet use?
2.4 gallons per minute of water.
14. What major cities have the best water and which ones have the worst water, in your opinion?
Best: Manhattan, NY | Worst: Houston, TX
15. Why does NYC have good drinking water?
NYC's water is treated with chlorine, fluoride, orthophosphate, sodium hydroxide, and ultraviolet
light which make it safer to drink.