Wastewater treatment and personal consumption

The 14 wastewater treatment plants of New York treat 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater daily. Using the Map of Plant Locations and Capacities posted on the New York City Environmental Protection webpage, I was able to identify that Tallman Island in Queens is my local wastewater treatment system. It is designed with the capacity to process upwards of 80 million gallons of water  for the northeastern section of Queens, with the northern tip entering Nassau county area. It has been in operation since 1939, and spans an area of 16,860 Acres. Being from Flushing, Queens I am a member of the upwards of 400,000 people that this plant serves on a regular basis. I also discovered that in  2010 there was a large scale upgrade to the system consisting of a Plant Upgrade Program (PUP). which provided for Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) by improving the aeration system. It also included the replacement of main sewage pumps , blowers and drive engines with electric motors. This was done in order to maintain a safe working environment for the future as well as meet the requirements of the citywide nitrogen removal program.

According to USGS.org , the average individual consumes somewhere between 80-100 gallons of water per day. Putting that in perspective, with the plant serving 400,000 people there is a daily input of 4000000 gallons. Even using my very preliminary and loose calculations, the sheer magnitude of water used drives home the importance  of conserving as much freshwater as possible. Using an online calculator, my water consumption was estimated to be approximately 90 gallons per day. The bulk of this consumption was through the regular showers and water usage through laundry.By seeing it laid put in numeric and tabular form, I will attempt to decrease my water usage through changes in habit (maybe by taking shorter showers) and by utilizing water in a more conscious manner.