Water

The distribution of water

Only 3% of the water on earth is fresh and potentially usable for humans. However,
much of this water is locked up in the polar ice caps or glaciers.

The water cycle

 Uses of water

Domestic: washing, flushing the toilet, washing clothes, watering the garden.

Industrial: for cooling in the production of electricity. Another use is that the water is
the universal solvent so you can produce many things with it.

Agriculture: The use of water for irrigation

often forms the largest proportion of water use for a whole country. Plants need
water to transport minerals and food;to keep their cells rigid and to combine with
carbon* dioxide to make food in photosynthesis . This means that, for successful
growth of crops, a reliable supply of water will be needed. In addition, domestic
Animals require a reliable source of water.

The main sources of freshwater for human use

Fresh water is often very visible as lakes, rivers and swaps. This is surface water.

Water is in the ground, groundwater.

Quantities of water stored in the spaces of porous rocks, such a store is referred to
as an aquifer.

Sources of water not potable:

River
Lake
Reservoir: an artificial lake where water can be stored
Stream
Pond
Well: a hole bored or dug into rock to reach the water stored there.

Water from the ground

The most common way in which water is obtained from aquifers is to sink wells. If
the water in the aquifer is not under pressure, it has to be raised to the top
of the well. This can be done by simply lowering a bucket
on a rope or with a hand-operated pump. If the water is stored under pressure, the
aquifer is referred
to as an artesian aquifer. Water from the ground.

Water from the sea

In principle, to make salt water suitable for human
consumption, the salt simply has to be removed in a process called desalination.
Over 97% of all the world's water is in the ocean and salty. Salt water cannot be
drunk, as it would cause health problems and, eventually, death. Two processes can
be used to make salt water potable.

The first method of desalination is distillation, in which the water is boiled and
released as vapor, leaving the salt behind. The vapor is condensed as liquid water
and can then be used. Desalination by distillation is about
10-30% efficient. The process produces large quantities of waste, salt water (brine),
which needs to be disposed of. This can be a source of pollution. Energy is needed
for the distillation, and the provision of this energy may itself causes pollution.
However, the transport of fresh Water from more remote sources also requires
energy.
Distillation may be no more costly than other methods of providing fresh water
unless there are alternative local sources. Desalination plants using this method are
mainly found in energy-rich countries, such as those of The Middle East.

The second desalination process is called reverse

osmosis, in which salt water is pumped at high pressure through very fine
membranes (Figure 4.3). Desalination reverse osmosis is about 30-50% efficient. As
with distillation, brine is a byproduct of reverse osmosis and requires disposal. This
process also requires energy, but
less than distillation. Most new desalination plants use the technique of reverse
osmosis.

Availability of safe drinking water around the world

The lack of water may be because of low rainfall and / or high levels of evaporation;
this is referred to as physical water scarcity. A second reason for a lack of water is
economics. A country may have a lot of water but cannot afford to extract it, purify it
and make it available for the population. Such a country is suffering from economic
water scarcity.

In many cities and towns, more people have access to both clean water and
improved sanitation than in rural areas in the same country. The main reasons for
this difference are that:
● there is more wealth and more wealthy people in cities
● large numbers of people can act together to pressurize
● authorities to provide safe water
● It is cheaper to install piped water when many people
● live close together than in a scattered rural community
 Multipurpose dam projects

The construction of a dam across a river can

be a very expensive and controversial project, but the benefits are usually great. In
many cases dams are constructed with a number of aims in mind.
Tungabhadra
The three gorges dam china
Kalagarh india
A dam may help with:

● the generation of electricity in hydroelectric power plants

● flood control
● irrigation
● tourism and leisure
● the provision of water
● creation of habitat for wetland species
● access by boat to otherwise inaccessible areas.

The disadvantages of dam projects include:

● relocating people
● flooding land
● disrupting the life cycles of fish and other aquatic
● organisms
● altering the water supply for people downstream of the dam
● reducing the enrichment of soil downstream of the
● dam (which natural flooding of the original river course would have contributed
to)
● the dam may become redundant as sediment in the the river sinks to the
bottom of the reservoir (siltation).
 Where to build a dam

Deciding where to build a dam requires detailed study of

many factors. It has to be in a river valley and, for economic reasons, the valley
should be quite narrow where the dam is built. A wider valley would require a more
costly, wider dam. A dam also needs to be quite high up a valley if it is to be
successful at producing hydroelectric power (HEP). The higher it is, the greater the
pressure of water, which means it will have more potential energy. Dams should be
sited away from developed areas if possible, to reduce the risk of pollution in the
reservoir.

Are dams sustainable?

Dams are often thought of as a permanent solution to

electricity generation. However, there are sometimes
problems with their operation in the long term. The
reservoir can become silted due to the material carried
into it by rivers. The dam structure, which is under a lot of
pressure, can deteriorate and eventually fail. Dams can also have negative effects
on the surrounding environment, including fish populations. These problems suggest
that dams are not necessarily sustainable solutions.
The opposite view is that dams are a far superior alternative to the burning of fossil
fuels because they produce electricity without producing greenhouse gasses and
pollutants. In this sense, sustainability can be thought of as a continuum with dams
towards one end and fossil fuels at the other.

Water-related diseases

Cholera and typhoid:

Water provides a very good habitat for many living things
Because of the presence of plants in water and their ability to photosynthesise (see
Section 9 l), there is plenty of food in Water Water provides a nutrient-rich
environment for bacteria. Bacteria may enter drinking water from sewage if sanitation
is poor.If these bacteria are pathogens, and the water in which they live is drunk
untreated, diseases can be spread. Waterborne

The crucial element in preventing these diseases being

transmitted within a population is to ensure that sewage
and drinking water do not come into contact with each
other. Therefore, good sanitation is crucial, with sewage
being removed directly to a treatment works and water
being treated before it is delivered to people to drink.

Attention to good hygiene is crucial, as is the thorough

cooking of food. Contaminated water should not be used to wash food, and hands
should be washed after contact with any faecal material. Use of efficient latrines is
essential.

Malaria:
Like cholera and typhoid, malaria is a water-relates
disease, but the similarity ends there. Bacterial
diseases, such as cholera and typhoid, are carried
in water and referred to as water-borne diseases.

Malaria is caused by a microscopic organism called

Plasmodium. Malaria is water-related because the
organism that passes the disease to humans requires
water to breed. This organism is an insect called a
mosquito, which lays its eggs in still water, where the
larvae develop. Mosquitoes can pass malaria on to
humans, acting as a vector. The relationship between
mosquitos. Plasmodium and human beings is best
understood with a life cycle diagram (Figure 4.7).

The symptoms of malaria are flu-like and include fever and chills at first. The disease
can be fatal. Malaria can be treated but a much better option is prevention.
Prevention and control is best achieved by avoiding bites from the mosquito.
Individuals can prevent being bitten by mosquitoes by
• avoiding being outside between dusk and dawn in
countries where malaria mosquitoes are active, the
species of the Anopheles mosquito that transmits
malaria only files at night
+ wearing clothing that covers most of the body and ter
exposed parts of the body with mosquito-repellent
products
-sleeping under a mosquito net treated with an
insecticide
-spraying the inside of accommodation with insecticide
-for babies using mosquito nets.

For governments, strategies for malaria control are

focused on controlling the vector. This can be achieved by:

-spraying insecticide inside buildings, including houses

-draining wetland areas to remove mosquito-breeding sites
-introducing lish, which eat the larvae and pupae o te
mosquito, into ponds and other bodies of water
-pouring oil onto the surface of the water where
mosquitoes breed, which stops the larvae from
breathing and stops the adults from laying eggs

Eradicating malaria means completely removing the

Malaria parasite from the population. Controlling the
Lector is not enough, so methods must be sought to
actually destroy the parasite.
Needs a vector without one.

Sources, impact and management of water pollution

Domestic waste
Sewage is waste matter carried away from houses and
other buildings in both cities and small villages. Itis tale,
away in drains called sewers and is then dumped or
converted into a form that is less harmful.

Sewage treatment
Sewage is very rich in organic matter and so microbial
organisms can thrive in it. Sewage has to be disposed
of, and this is usually into bodies of water, so it must be
Treated beforehand.
The main aim of sewage treatment is to reduce the
biological oxygen demand (BOD) of the sewage. The
BOD of sewage is the amount of oxygen it would use up
if released directly into a river or lake. The removal of this
oxygen from the river or lake would cause problems for
the organisms, such as fish and insect larvae, living in the
water. Further details about these problems are given
below in the section on eutrophication.

1. Waste water is taken to pipes called sewers

2. Large objects are removed from the waste water using a coarse grid
3. The solid organic matter is allowed to settle at the bottom of the tank, sludge.
The. Leaned water overflows the sides of the tank and is taken to the next
stage
4. The water is now pumped into a tank where oxygen is bubbled through it.
5. The water now enters the second settling tank, where the bacteria settle to
the bottom, forming more sludge. This cleaner water overflows the sides of
the tank as effluent.
6. The effluent is discharged into the environment.
7. In the sludge digester, oxygen free conditions are created, releasing methane,
which can be burnt
8. The treated sludge can be dried in sludge lagoons and used as organic
fertilizer on farmland.
Improved sanitation

An improved sanitation facility is defined as one that

separates human excreta from contact with humans. This
can be achieved using a variety of toilets and latrines.

〜A flush toilet uses a holding tank for flushing water, and

a water seal that prevents smells. A pour flush toilet has
a water seal but uses water poured by hand for flushing.
In either case the waste needs to be removed by:

● either connection to a system of sewer pipes, also called sewerage, that

collects human faces, urine and waste water, which is then removed from the
house
● or connection to a septic system, which consists of an underground, sealed
settling tank.

〜A pit latrine with a platform is a dry pit fully covered by a platform that is fitted with
a seat over a hole, or just has a hole in the platform. The platform covers the pit
without
exposing the contents, other than through the hole.
Sometimes these latrines are ventilated to take away smells.
〜A composting toilet is a dry toilet into which vegetable
waste, straw, grass, sawdust and ash are added to the
human waste to produce compost.
Water treatment

Water that is fit for domestic use such as drinking, washing and cooking is called
potable water. To make water potable it undergoes coagulation treatment, and is
filtered and disinfected.

Coagulants make particles in the water stick together

and settle to the bottom of the container. The water is
then filtered through sand. To kill any disease-causing
organisms (pathogens) that may remain, chlorine is added to the filtered water as a
disinfectant; this process is called chlorination.

Industrial processes

Industry produces and uses a wide range of chemicals

that can be harmful to both humans and the environment.
Because of its excellent solvent properties, many of these
chemicals end up in water bodies and cause pollution.
Outfalls from industry often discharge into rivers and lakes. Gasses from industrial
chimneys enter the atmosphere, where they dissolve in water and form acid rain.
The bodies of living things are at least 75% water and so these water-soluble
pollutants can easily enter organisms and cause problems.

Toxic compounds from industry

Many industrial processes use and produce a variety of

poisonous (toxic) substances. Some of these may enter
bodies of water and cause immediate harm and even
death to the organisms living there. in other cases, a less
dramatic effect is seen. This may be because, although
the substance is toxic, it only enters the water in very
small amounts. However, because of a process called
biomagnification, such substances may achieve levels
where they become toxic.
The most well-known examples of biomagnification are
heavy metal and some pesticides.
Many industrial processes involve the use of heavy metals such as lead, mercury
and cadmium. These metals are toxic and can be stored in the bodies of plants and
animals, including humans. This means they may build up to high levels, which can
cause illness.

Acid rain
What causes acid rain

The pH of water is a measure of how acid or alkaline it is. A pH of less than 7 is acid,
7 is neutral, anc
above 7 is alkaline. The pH range is from very acid (O) to
very alkaline (14). Rain usually has a pH of between 5 and 6, so it is always slightly
acidic. Acid rain has a pH lower than this: values as low as 2 have been recorded.

When fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, are burned, the
gasses sulfur dioxide (SO) and oxides of nitrogen (NO.)
are produced. They enter the atmosphere and can be
blown long distances. These gasses react with water in the atmosphere to form
acids.

SO, dissolves in water in clouds, producing sulfuric acid,

and NO, produces nitric acid. When it rains,
These acids fall to the ground

The impact of acid rain on aquatic ecosystems

When water in a river or lake is acidified, the lower pH
makes it intolerable to organisms. Fish egg-laying is often
reduced and young fish are malformed. Acid rain can also
lead to leaching of heavy metals, such as aluminum,
lead and mercury, from the soil into the water. This leads
to further harmful effects. Aluminum, for example, clogs
fish gills and can cause suffocation. Another effect is
that some minerals essential for life, notably calcium
and potassium, are washed out of the lake or river. This
reduces algal growth, leaving less food for fish and other
animals. The direct and indirect effects of acid rain and
run-off of heavy metals from surrounding soils affect the
Whole ecosystem.

Reducing acid rain

A reduction in the production of acid rain-causing gases

is achieved when substitutes for fossil fuels are found to
produce energy.
To reduce SO, emissions, low-sulfur varieties of fossil
fuel should be used. Any sulfur still in the emissions can
be removed by scrubbers. There are various forms of
scrubber but for all of them, once the sulfur has been
removed, the waste then has to be disposed of safely.
NO, emissions can be reduced by burning with a cooler
flame or adjusting the air to fuel ratio.

Agriculture

Modern agriculture makes use of many chemicals called

agrochemicals (se Section3.4). These include pesticides,
herbicides and fertilizers. All of these are water-soluble
and can cause pollution in water bodies, with a variety of
consequences for humans and the environment.

Eutrophication
Nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate can enter
water from many sources, including farmland, industry
and domestic outputs. In addition, organic matter cal
enter water directly as sewage and from other sources.

Any increase in nutrients, such as nitrates and

phosphates, in a river or lake will cause a rapid growth of
algae. This is called an algal bloom. When the algae die
there is an increase in organic matter in the water. This
acts as food for bacteria as they decompose the dead
algae. These bacteria use up oxygen, lowering its level in
the water. Most living things rely on oxygen, so this can
lead to the death of other organisms in the water.

Pesticide and herbicide pollution

Pesticides are designed to kill living things, but not humans. However, because
human physiology has much in common with other living organisms, it is not
surprising that pesticides can have negative effects on humans. Insecticides, a class
of pesticide produced to kill insects, will kill both the target species (the pest) and
non-target species, which worryingly can include the natural enemies of the pests.
Pesticides are generally water-soluble, so water pollution by these agrochemicals is
a major concern.

Pollution control and legislation

Governments around the world have been tackling pollution by legislation. Industries
in participating countries are required to monitor the pollution they cause and keep it
within set levels. The legislation puts pressure on the polluters to find ways to reduce
the pollution.