Event Title
Location
Parker-Reed, SSWAC
Start Date
1-5-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
1-5-2014 3:00 PM
Project Type
Poster- Restricted to Campus Access
Description
As the world population continues to grow certain resources, such as fresh water, continue to diminish at an unsustainable rate. In the United States, fresh water is widely used for general public supply, rural domestic and livestock, irrigation, thermoelectric power, and a variety of other smaller uses. In 2005, 410 billion gallons of water were used per day with over 85% of the water from fresh water sources. A future problem in the US will be providing enough water to meet the demand. This project uses past water usage data to predict the future water demand. Then, it develops a comprehensive and feasible mathematical model to identify the best water strategy to meet the water demand which includes storage and movement costs along with desalinization cost. The model focuses on minimizing the cost of the strategy along with increasing the use of desalinated water in order to be sustainable. In addition to predicting costs, the study addresses the most logical locations to build desalination plants, better conservation practices and possible environmental implications. The model addresses meeting the future demand of fresh water in the US in 2025 by reducing fresh water usage in the most cost effective way.
Faculty Sponsor
Lu Lu
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. Mathematics and Statistics Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Natural Sciences
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
624
Water Strategy in the United States
Parker-Reed, SSWAC
As the world population continues to grow certain resources, such as fresh water, continue to diminish at an unsustainable rate. In the United States, fresh water is widely used for general public supply, rural domestic and livestock, irrigation, thermoelectric power, and a variety of other smaller uses. In 2005, 410 billion gallons of water were used per day with over 85% of the water from fresh water sources. A future problem in the US will be providing enough water to meet the demand. This project uses past water usage data to predict the future water demand. Then, it develops a comprehensive and feasible mathematical model to identify the best water strategy to meet the water demand which includes storage and movement costs along with desalinization cost. The model focuses on minimizing the cost of the strategy along with increasing the use of desalinated water in order to be sustainable. In addition to predicting costs, the study addresses the most logical locations to build desalination plants, better conservation practices and possible environmental implications. The model addresses meeting the future demand of fresh water in the US in 2025 by reducing fresh water usage in the most cost effective way.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2014/program/346