Question

The town of Mountaintop draws water from a nearby lake. The inlet stream supplies the lake with 1,000,000 ft.' of water a month. Currently the population of Mountaintop is 6,000, and it consumes about 270,000 ft.’ of water a month. How large can the population of Mountaintop become before it has to seek additional water supplies? 115

Answer 1

The population of Mountaintop can grow to about 22,200 people based on the current water supply and consumption rates before needing to seek additional water supplies.

Step-by-step explanation:

The town of Mountaintop currently draws 1,000,000 ft.³ of water a month from a nearby lake and has a population of 6,000 consuming about 270,000 ft.³ of water a month. To determine how large the population can become before seeking additional water supplies, we use a proportional relationship. The calculation is as follows:

• Current water supply: 1,000,000 ft.³/month
• Current water consumption by 6,000 people: 270,000 ft.³/month

Dividing the water supply by the current consumption gives us the number of times the current population fits into the total supply:

1,000,000 ft.³ / 270,000 ft.³ = 3.7 (approximately)

This means the current water supply can support 3.7 times the current population without needing additional water supplies:

6,000 people * 3.7 = 22,200 people (approximately)

Therefore, the population of Mountaintop can grow to about 22,200 people before it has to seek additional water supplies.