Just how bad is the drought? I went online to get some information for this blog. I typed in Southeast drought and an article from USA today caught my eye. According to the article, this is the driest year on record for North Carolina and Tennessee, and the sec-ond-driest in Alabama.

I know the residents of North Carolina have cut their water use by 30 percent, but I wonder if it is enough. Will this be another case of a reactive situation instead of a pro-active one?

Don’t think we won’t run low on water? Ask the folks who live in Orme, Tennessee. Their water source is so low that they have water service only three hours a day. It seems the spring that supplies the town’s water, which usually dries up at the end of summer, dried up early leaving the town’s 145 residents without water. This scenario will only happen again and again unless we get more rain or start to really conserve wa-ter.

Now I know that a town with 145 residents doesn’t sound like much to worry about, but the fact remains that they ran low on water and have access to water only three hours a day. A more important fact is that 150 miles to the southeast is Atlanta, which has 4.5 million residents and businesses. Even though Atlanta and the surrounding areas get their water from Lake Lanier, which is a much larger water source than the spring that supplies Orme Tennessee, Atlanta’s officials are watching the water table very closely.

All this information has me thinking about our water supply and what can be done to conserve water. So I decided to check on my use of water and how much I use. I read my water meter in the morning before I used any water and read it again at the end of day two. During this time I kept track of all the ways I used water.

The starting meter reading was 117230 and the end reading was 117350. This indicated a water use total of 120 gallons. During this time I took two showers, did one load of dishes, and flushed the toilet five times. It was interesting to see how much water I used. It made me think about how I do everyday chores.

I do have to tell you that I don’t have a family so it is only me. I am out a lot so I don’t use much water except in the morning and when I get home at night so my water use will be lower than families.

Why don’t you take the challenge and see how much water your household uses. All you have to do is find the water meter to your home, open the cover and read the num-bers. There are two different ways to measure water use. One measures cubic feet of water used and the other reads water use in gallons. It will say on the meter how the water is measured. If it says gallons, just read it like your car’s odometer and that is the gallons used. Take your reading, wait two or three days and read it again. The differ-ence between the two is the gallons you used.

If it measures water usage in cubic feet, it is a little different procedure in finding your usage. Take the reading, wait two or three days and take it again. Since it is measure in cubic feet we have to change the number to gallons. Remember that 1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons. So, to find your usage you would take readings, find the difference be-tween the two numbers and multiply that number by 7.48 gallons.

It is not hard to check your meter and it’s a good way to see if you have any leaks. One of the features of the water meter is a little wheel or triangle that turns when water flows through the meter.

To check for leaks in your home, make sure all the faucets are turned off. Go out to the meter and see if the little wheel or triangle is spinning. If not, all is well. If it is, go in and check the faucets for drips. If you can’t find a leak, call a plumber to help find the prob-lem. Remember this: if that flow indicator is spinning, you are being charged for water and your bill will be higher than it should be.

Whew! That was a lot of information to digest but it is important to conserve our water use.
Remember, we can’t live without it.

I am finishing this blog on Thursday morning and I am glad to say we had some rain last night. Not a lot but enough to help the trees and plants and hopefully put some water back into the lakes. Let’s hope this starts a trend for more rain in the days ahead.

Until next time, Reduce, Reuse,Recycle, and don’t forget to Stay Green!