Fwd: cubic gallons

[James Smith]

Just a quick Google indicates to me that most users of
*cubic gallon* are not native English speakers and are
clearly thinking cubic _ linear metric unit into cubic
_ Imperial or Customary gallons, without making the
connection that *gallon* is already a unit of volume.

As for journalists, well - I think we've all seen a
subject we're knowledgable on unintentionally mangled
by the well-intentioned free press: that's just what
they do.

http://www.detnews.com/2002/metro/0209/20/d01-592530.htm
In the body of the article: "Grosse Ile pays Detroit
$7.30 per 1,000 cubic gallons of treated water.", but
in the accompanying table (at the top on the web page)
"Wyandotte charges $6.68 per 1,000 cubic feet...".
Maybe the editor didn't know the difference, maybe the
editor didn't care, maybe the editor just didn't catch
the error.




--- Barnhart <barnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM> wrote:

> From my canoe-racing days, I recall that the NYC
> Water Supply used
> gallons/minute (or was it second) to calculate the
> volume of water
> released into the Esopus River.
>
> David Barnhart (out-of-shape river runner)
>
> barnhart at highlands.com
>
> American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on
> Monday, September 26,
> 2005 at 1:19 PM -0500 wrote:
> >---------------------- Information from the mail
> header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society
> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       James Smith
> <jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Fwd: cubic gallons
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >I work as a hydrogeologist with the State of Utah,
> and
> >I’ve never encountered cubic gallons or cubic
> acres,
> >in any context.  I’ll consult with hydrologists in
> >other divisions as to whether they have come across
> >these terms.
> >
> >As already pointed out by Chris Waigl, acre-foot is
> a
> >very common measure of water volume.  I suspect
> >acre-foot is the unit that is supposed to be used
> in
> >these excerpts that refer to cubic-acres.  The more
> of
> >these examples I read, the more certain I am that
> >people are simply conflating cubic-feet with
> acre-feet
> >to come up with cubic acres (and cubic feet with
> >gallons to come up with cubic gallons).
> >
> >e.g., the average flow (1896 to 1921) of the
> Colorado
> >River was approx. 17 million acre-feet.  Based on
> that
> >flow, CA is allocated 4.4 million acre-feet from
> the
> >Colorado River, not 4.4 million cubic acres.  5.2
> >million cubic acres, the amount CA is supposedly
> >taking, would be 1,085 million acre-feet.
>
>http://www.water.utah.gov/Interstate/TheColoradoRiverart.pdf
> >
> >From C Waigl’s posting----
> >*In southern California's Imperial Valley, farmers
> who
> >buy taxpayer-provided irrigation water for $15.50 a
> >cubic acre have turned into speculators. Soon they
> >will net a profit of $384.50 a cubic acre in a
> massive
> >water sale to a thirsty San Diego.
>
>http://www.southernenvironment.org/Cases/Water_Resources/AJCop-ed_Nov13.shtml*
> >
> >Potable (or is that potable?) water in Utah sells
> for
> >an average of $380 acre-ft ($700 acre-ft in Park
> >City).  *Reused* water sells for $300 to $350
> acre-ft
> >in Texas, Arizona and California, with *unused*
> water
> >going for $600 to $700 per acre-ft in those states.
>
>http://www.water.utah.gov/WaterReuse/WaterReuseAA.pdf
> >
> >Irrigation water in Utah sells for up to $75 per
> >acre-foot – selling water for $15 per cubic acre
> would
> >be economically unsustainable: even $15 per
> acre-foot
> >is a giveaway.
> >
> >
> >Again from Chris, as he points out references to
> cubic
> >acre-feet:
> >*North Dakota is asking for a preliminary
> injunction
> >against the corps, requiring the agency to maintain
> >800,000 *cubic acre* feet in the lake to support
> its
> >fishery.
> ><http://shorl.com/hividepyvifro>*
> >
> >This reservoir would be required to retain roughly
> the
> >equivalent of the annual flow of the Columbia River
> if
> >these were cubic acre-feet.
> >
> >
> >James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches
> anything
> >South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will
> be sued
> >jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act
> quickly and decisively
> >                               |or slowly and
> cautiously.
> >
> >__________________________________________________
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>


James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.



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