BS Environmental and Sanitary Engineering

Fundamentals of Water Supply:

Water – is the most basic and fundamental component of life on earth. Water plays a key role in the
metabolic breakdown of essential molecule as proteins and carbohydrates. This process called
Hydrolysis goes on continually in living cells.
A liquid substance/compound readily present in nature with a basic molecular composition
"HOH” or H2O(two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen)
Physical and Chemical Nature of Water:
Water is one of the most abundant substances on earth without which life, it is said cannot exists. It
covers more than 70% of the earth’s surface and exists as vapor in the earth’s atmosphere.
- Water in liquid form is most dense at 4°C (39.2 °F)
- At 4°C (39.2 °F), one liter of water weighs 1 kg (1L=1KG) ( a density of 1g/cc).
- In its gas form as a vapor, water is lighter than air.
- At 4°C (39.2 °F),water has a specific gravity of 1
- Water is the only substance on earth that exists in nature in all three physical states of matter:
solid, liquid, and gas.
- The specific heat of water in the metric system is 1 calorie – the amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of one gram one degree Celsius.
Facts about water:
 An average family of four (4) uses 90,000 gallons of water a year
 A 50-gallon water heater holds about 400 lbs. of water
 Water is the most common compound on earth, the fluid from which all life originates. It’s the
one liquid humans must have to live.
 Human blood is 83% water
 Human skin is 70% water
 Human bones are 25% water
 An average person can survive nearly 2 months w/o food, but only 5 to 7 days w/o water
 97% of the water on the earth is saltwater: only 3% is freshwater
 Most of the freshwater stored on the earth is frozen in glaciers
 Only 1 % of the earth’s water available for drinking water

Classifications of sources of supply according to the relative position on the earth:

1. Meteoric Waters ( Sources above ground surface)
2. Surface Water (Sources on the ground surface)
3. Ground waters (Sources below ground surface)

Properties of Water:

Surface Tension – It is ability of water to stick to itself and pull itself together. Water has an extremely
high surface tension.
Capillarity – The ability of water to climb upon a surface against the pull of gravity.
Pure Water – Water that is colorless and odorless and not found in nature as purified water ( a product
of water purification)
Natural Water – readily found in nature, as impounded from precipitation, contains impurities
(physical, chemical, bacteriological or radiological)

Fundamentals of Water Supply Prepared by: Engr. Ruel Galutan