Among the students of the Koprivnica High School we conducted survey about water and electricity consumption and recycling of waste as a part of our project.
The research was conducted as follows:
Each person received a brief questionnaire that was supposed to be filled in anonymously with their families' co-operation and reading the status of home and water meters. People involved in research are living in Koprivnica and surrounding areas. Data requested in the research:
- number of persons in the household
- household area (in m2)
- household waste recycling (yes / no / partial)
- electricity meter count on date 04.02.2017.
- water meter count as of 08.02.2017.
- electricity meter count on date 04.02.2017.
- water meter count as of 08.02.2017.
For households that do not have their own water meters (they are not connected to public water supply or the meter is shared with the rest of the residential building) we have noted that water issues are left blank. The results of the research have been statistically processed and we made some conclusions.
In the part of the research related to water consumption, 25 households and 123 persons participated. By reading the meter for a given period of time, 123 people spent 75.3 cubic meters of water, which is 153.05 liters of water per person per day. If we assume that the average daily consumption is roughly equal throughout the year, our survey gives an average consumption of 55 863 liters per person per year. When we add a fixed and variable part when calculating the water prices in Koprivnica and surrounding areas, the price of water per spent cubic meter is 38.08 kn. Therefore, the average annual water price per person is 177.27 kn.
In the part of electricity consumption research, 54 households participated (240 persons) whose area of household is 6240 square meters. During the processing of statistical data, we observed the dependence of household consumption on electricity consumption, as well as the dependence of consumption on the number of households. Average daily consumption per square meter is 2.76 kW / h or annual 1008.68 kW / h. When we observe the daily consumption per person, it is 71.85 kW / h per day, or 26 225.63 kW / h per year.
In the waste recycling part of survey, results are: of 54 households, 4 do not recycle waste, 25 are recycle, and 25 recycle only partially.
The sample on which the survey was conducted is not big, but we think it realistically represents the situation in our area and gives us answers to some questions. Are we wasting too much water? Are we running too much power? Are we recycling enough waste?
We think that we spend more water and electricity than necessary, and that we still do not recycle waste enough. The results of this research have provided us with an insight into consumption, and a good visual representation for educating our colleagues, friends, family and community.
The most important steps in our research are yet to follow. We want to compare the consumption results from our area with the rest of Croatia, and then Europe. We want to explore what we spend the most on water, and which are effective ways to reduce water consumption.
Is it a water price increasing the solution? Is it raising awareness of the excessive consumption of drinking water in our community? Perhaps practical and simple tips for saving water and electricity.
In addition, we want to explore the availability of alternative energy sources that could replace classical electricity. What is the cost of solar energy implementation for an average household? How much money can we save by introducing alternative energy sources, while helping to preserve non-renewable energy sources? We want to start sorting waste in our school and in our homes and to spread awareness about the importance of recycling waste.
Do you want too?