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Environment

Water

Even though your body feels solids, it is actually about 95 percent water. If you were to lose 20 percent of this water you would die. The average adult needs 1.893 liter of water each day. Evaporation from our skin in the form of perspiration regulates our body temperature. Tears bathe our eyes; saliva soothes our throats and aids our digestion. All living things are dependent upon water for life. Water plays a key role in breaking down and carrying nutrients to all parts of plants and animals. With the assistance of chemical reactions, the nutrients are transformed into energy or into materials used for growth or repair. Chemical reaction within an organism can only occur in a water solution. Water further serves to help an organism expel waste products.

Scientists estimate that less than 1 percent of the water on earth is available for human use. The oceans comprise more than 97 percent of the water on earth, while glaciers lock up another 2 percent of the Earth's water. Of the percentage available for human use, half lies at least a half mile (2640 ft., .8 kilometers) below the surface of the Earth, currently beyond the reach of conventional and economical drilling technologies. The remaining water supply is disbursed among rivers, lakes, and ground water. Each year the demand for water increases. In some cases, water is being withdrawn from aquifers faster than it can be replenished.

Pollution compounds the problems by reducing usable water supplies. Because of its ability to dissolve and absorb other substances, water is rarely pure. Water dissolves salts and minerals from the soil and carries theses residues into streams and oceans. When evaporation takes place, salts and mineral are left behind. When water vapor condenses in the atmosphere, it can absorb atmospheric pollutant particles and deposit them on the land.

In area primarily dependent on underground water supplies, and other supplies which are replenished slowly, water conservation is the key. Simple efficiency devices within the home can reduce water use. More efficient irrigation systems and cleaning up water used by industry can also help preserve and extend supplies for future use.

The average American uses approximately 260 liters of water a day. We use water for cooking, cleaning bathing, and disposing of wastes. Most items we use every day require water in their manufacturing. It requires approximately 800,000 gallons (three million liters) of water a year to provide one person with food.

In order to have a sufficient food supply, Americans have learned that they must cultivate land where rainfall is insufficient for crop production. Because they have found desert land very productive when water is applied, American has devised methods to make "rainfall" when and where they want it through irrigation. The United States alone uses an approximate 400 billion liters of water daily for irrigation.

Pollution in many forms affects water quality. High water flows, silt deposits, excess nutrient content, and toxins can injure or kill aquatic organisms and become a public health hazard. Observable signs of water pollution include discoloration, unpleasant odors, cloudy or salty water, excess algae growth, and dead fish, plants or animals. All water pollution originates from two very different sources: point and nonpoint.

Water users and suppliers constantly deal with water quality problems and continually strive to render water suitable to their purposes. If a single source can be identified as the cause of pollution, such as a ditch or pipe, the pollution is referred to as point source. Examples are industrial plants and sewage outlets

Nonpoint source water pollution originates in water that runs in a thin layer over the land. The origins of the pollution cannot easily be identified or controlled. THIS TYPE OF POLLUTION OCCURS AS RAINFALL RUNOFF FLOWS OVER THE LAND PICKING UP SEDIMENTS, ORGANIC WASTES, NUTRIENTS, TOXIC SUBSTANCES, BACTERIA AND OTHER POLLUTANTS FROM AGRICULTURAL AND URBAN SOURCES, STREETS, PARKING LOTS, LAWNS, PASTURES, ETC., ALL CONTRIBUTE POLLUTANTS THAT ULTIMATELY FIND THEIR WAY INTO THE WATER AND ENVIRONMENT.

As area become developed, natural surfaces are covered with solid surfaces like streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and buildings. As a result, water that previously soaked into the ground to replenish underground and surface water supplies, flows over the land in the watershed and enters the stream more rapidly. Some of the common pollutants that enter streams with this runoff are: oils from roadways and parking lots, pesticides and fertilizers from yards, and improperly disposed of wastes including hazardous materials from dumping grounds and storage areas.

As water travels through the soil and rock, it picks up water soluble materials and carries them along. Some of the materials in groundwater occur naturally, but many constituents in groundwater are the result of human land use activities. Different soils have varying capacities to filter and absorb wastes. In many geologic formations, groundwater moves so slowly that contamination can remain undiscovered for years until the contaminated groundwater is brought to the surface by springs or wells. However, once groundwater is contaminated, it is likely to remain so for decades, perhaps even for centuries.