Convert a flow rate of 1,500 gallons per minute to MGD.

To convert a flow rate from gallons per minute (gpm) to million gallons per day (MGD), you need to follow these steps:

1. Recognize that one million gallons is equal to 1,000,000 gallons.

2. There are 1,440 minutes in a day (24 hours x 60 minutes).

3. Use these two pieces of information to convert the flow rate.

Start by calculating how many gallons flow in one day at a rate of 1,500 gallons per minute:

1,500 gallons/minute × 1,440 minutes/day = 2,160,000 gallons/day.

Now, to convert this to million gallons per day, divide the total gallons by 1,000,000:

2,160,000 gallons/day ÷ 1,000,000 = 2.16 MGD.

The calculation shows that 1,500 gallons per minute is equivalent to 2.16 million gallons per day, which aligns perfectly with the correct answer. Understanding this conversion is crucial for applications involving water resource management and environmental assessments, where flow rates are often reported in MGD.