In the summer, water consumption is known to decrease overall by 25%. ...
There are errors in the officials statement.
water consumption is known to decrease overall by 25%.
Let overall water consumption is x so after decrese overall consumption is (1-0.25)x .
A water Board official states that in the summer household consumption decreases by 20% while other consumption increases by 70%.
so let household consumption is h , after decrease by 20% it becomes (1-0.2) h
and other consumption becomes after increase (1+0.7) (x-h) .
As overall consumption is x and household consumption is h so other consumption is ( x-h ) .
now according to given statement , the equation becomes :
(1-0.2) h + (1+0.7) (x-h) = (1-0.25)x
=> 0.8 h + 1.7x - 1.7h = 0.75x
=> 1.7x - 0.75x = 1.7h - 0.8h
=> 0.95 x = 0.9 h
so h = 0.95 x / 0.9 .... (i)
now, looking at the options given , it tells " The ratio of household to other consumption " ..
that means h/x-h = The ratio of household to other consumption ....(ii)
now , put h value in terms of x in (ii)
from (i) we get value of h and put that into (ii) , we get {0.95 x / 0.9 } / x - { 0.95 x / 0.9 }
=> 1.055 x / x - 1.055x
=> 1.055 / -(0.055)
=> - 19.1818
so The ratio of household to other consumption we get -(19.1818) .
Now check each option one by one ..
statement 1 : The ratio of household to other consumption is 8/17 = 0.470 , not match .
statement 2 : The ratio of household to other consumption is 1/17 = 0.0588 , not match
statement 3 : The ratio of household to other consumption is 17/8 = 2.125 , not match
so all three options are not match with our value -19.18 ..and also a ratio can not become -ve so that means there is some error in official statement !
Hence correct option is option D , There are errors in the officials statement.