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Show WATER FOR UTAH lated facilities; kitchens are equipped with more water- using devices, such as automatic garbage grinders and disposal units, double sinks and automatic dish washers. The laundry tub is giving way to automatic clothes washers which use water in abundance. The days of the Saturday evening bath, involving an old wooden tub near the wood- burning kitchen stove, are of long ago. The consumption requirements of commercial establishments are rising. A large variety of water- using devices are becoming commonplace where they once were in rare use- dish washers, automatic ice machinery which provide a constant cascade of ice chips for the restaurant table, air- conditioning - all of these add to the community water burden. The manufacturing industry, aside from its peculiar processing and cooling consumption of water, is also adding to the per capita drain on community water supplies. There are very few, if any, plants which do not provide ample and modern washroom facilities and drinking fountains in numerous locations on the factory floor. Many of them air- condition sections of the industrial establishment. The trend in water consumption is, therefore, going up with management's realization that employees' comfort is essential for efficient production and good labor- management relationships. ... Community Requirements Vary ... Obviously, total community water requirements will vary with climate, location, major economic supporting activities and trends of consuming habits. In general, there is close correlation with size of community; the larger ones definitely have a greater per capita level of overall consumption than the smaller ones. The greatest per capita amounts supplied by community water systems are in domestic categories. The average distribution, in gallons per capita for a large number of communities in the United States has shown the following: 36% for domestic purposes; 32% for commercial and industrial requirements; 9% for public purposes and 23% for losses. Studies recently showed that in 1943- 1945, the per capita consumption in certain American cities varied from a high of 200 to a low of 64.3 gallons per day. Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, according to another investigation, are consuming water at a per capita rate of 150 and 200 gallons per day, respectively, well in the forefront of the national record. It is v/ orthy of note that the requirements of Ogden have been as high as 232.9 gallons per day per capita in 1933. ... Utah's Demands ... The aggregation of population in the so- called Wasatch front - that area immediately west of the Wasatch Range - has concentrated the major portion of the State's domestic and community water requirements in the Bonneville Basin. With the large expansion of population which has occurred during the war and which will probably continue in the communities of the Wasatch front, considerable concern is indicated as to immediate as well as future adequacy of water supplies for community and domestic uses. The situation is sufficiently critical that the occurrence of a minimum water year would necessitate rather stringent curtailment of use during part of the year. In large measure this condition prevails for many of the communities in the most populated sections of the State. A remedy must be provided soon and will necessitate the full development of adjacent watersheds, the shifting of consumptive uses, particularly of large commercial and industrial consumers, to sources which, although adequate for their use, would not be acceptable for domestic purposes. Whatever methods are selected, the urgent need is for the full development of the State's water resources, including allocations of waters to be diverted from the Upper Colorado River Basin into the Bonneville Basin. ... Potential Requirements ... The analysis of past per capita consumption rates in Utah indicates that the level of urban population use should be considered at no less than 200 gallons per day. An increment of at least 10 gallons per day per capita should be included in estimates for each succeeding decade. Rural population requirements should be con- [ 85] |