An Olympic swimming pool is 164 ft long and 82 ft wide. Assume that it is filled to a depth of 3.0 m, which is the Olympic recommendation.
a. What volume of water in gal is needed to fill the pool?
b. What volume of water in L is needed to fill the pool?
c. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that in 2015 U.S. domestic use of water was 82 gal/day per person. Using this value for daily usage, for what length of time could the water used to fill an Olympic swimming pool provide the domestic water usage for a community of 25,000 residents?

Key Concepts

Volume Calculation

To determine the volume of the swimming pool, we need to use the formula for the volume of a rectangular prism, which is length × width × height. In this case, the dimensions must be consistent, so we will convert the depth from meters to feet or vice versa to ensure all measurements are in the same unit before performing the calculation.

Unit Conversion

Converting between different units of measurement is essential in this problem. We need to convert the volume from cubic feet to gallons and liters. Knowing the conversion factors—1 cubic foot equals approximately 7.48 gallons and 1 cubic foot equals about 28.32 liters—will allow us to accurately express the volume in the required units.

Water Usage Calculation

To find out how long the water from the pool can supply a community's daily usage, we need to calculate the total volume of water in gallons and then divide this by the daily water usage per person multiplied by the number of residents. This will give us the number of days the pool's water can sustain the community's needs.