Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
WINTER SCIENCE PROJECT-
P
Rashm
mi Kaushal VI-A
1
1 Water in Our Life
THE
E HIST
TORY OF
O WAT
TER
W
Water has been used since
s antiqu
uity as a symbol by wh hich to express devotiion and
purity. Some culttures, like the
t ancient Greeks, we ent as far as
a to worshhip gods whho were
thoughht to live in and comm mand the wa aters. Wholle cities havve been billed by cons
sidering
the lo
ocation and availabilityy of pure drrinking watter. The pla
ace of gatheering was around
a
the wells,
w whichh is perhaps
s the follow
wing trend in building fountains inn the middle of
piazzas.
T
Traditional a
and modern medicine have been n makings use
u of the p psychologic cal and
physioological dive
erse properrties of watter, in all fo
orms of hyd drotherapy (composite e Greek
wordd: hydro, off water andd therapy, WeW all know w of the simmple, yet efffective, calming
qualities of
o a warm bath
b or the invigoratin ng qualities of a cold shower. Forr
centurries, numerrous healing g springs lo
ocated all around
a the world havee been reco ognised
forr their bene
efits. The fa
amous Belg gium spas in the Arden nnes are a fine examp ple.
Historical recordds of these cold spring gs claim 'cuures' since the
t fourteenth century y. The
hot Californian sppas, the heaaling spas of
o Loutraki in Greece, the Dalhou usie hot springs in
the border of So outh Austraalia and Norrthern Territory, Moree in NSW, Hepburn mineral m
spass in Victoria
a are just a few examples.
2
2 Water in Our Life
Water is the common name applied to the liquid form (state) of the
hydrogen and oxygen compound H2O. Pure water is an odourless,
tasteless, clear liquid. Water is one of nature's most important gifts to
mankind. Essential to life, a person's survival depends on drinking water.
Water is one of the most essential elements to good health -- it is
necessary for the digestion and absorption of food; helps maintain proper
muscle tone; supplies oxygen and nutrients to the cells; rids the body of
wastes; and serves as a natural air conditioning system. Health officials
emphasize the importance of drinking at least eight glasses of clean water
each and every day to maintain good health.
3 Water in Our Life
POLLUTION OF WATER
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers,
oceans, lagoonss, and groundwater. All water pollution affects organisms
and plants that live in these bodies of water and in almost all cases the
effect is damaging either to individual species and populations but also to
the natural biological communities. It occurs when pollutants are
discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate
treatment to remove harmful constituents.
4 Water in Our Life
USES
S OF WATER
W
Watter resourc
ces are sources of water
w that are useful or potenttially useful to
humaans. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, househo old, recreational
and environmmental activ
vities. Virttually all of
o these hu
uman uses s require fresh
f
water.
5
5 Water in Our Life
12 Intterestiing Fac
cts of Waterr
1. Rou
ughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made
m up off water.
2. At
A birth, water
w accou
unts for ap
pproximattely 80 perrcent of an
n infant’s body
b
weightt.
3. A healthy person can drink abo
out three gallons
g (48
8 cups) off water perr day.
4. While the daaily recommmended amount
a of water is eight
e cups per day, not all
of this
t water must be consumed
c in the liquid form. Nearly eve
ery food or
o drink
m provides some wa
item ater to the
e body.
5. S
Soft drinks
s, coffee, and
a tea, while
w madee up almosst entirely of water, also
co
ontain cafffeine. Cafffeine can act
a as a mild
m diuretic, preventting waterr from
travelling to neccessary loc
cations in the body.
ater dissolves more substance
6. Wa ny other liquid. Whe
es than an erever it trravels,
water carrie
es chemica
als, minera
als, and nutrients w
with it.
7. Som
mewhere between 70
7 and 75 percent of
o the earth
h’s surface
e is covere
ed with
water..
8. The earth is
s a closed system, similar
s to a terrariumm, meanin ng that it rarely
r
loses or gains
g extra matter. The same e water tha at existed on the earth
millio
ons of years ago is still
s presen
nt today.
9. The
T total amount of water on the
t earth is about 326
3 n cubic miles of
million
water..
10.Off all the wa
ater on thee earth, humans can used only about three tenth hs of a
percent of this
t waterr. Such usa able waterr is found in groundw
water aqu
uifers,
rivers, and
a freshw
water lakes.
11.By
y the time a person feels thirssty, his or her body has lost ov
ver 1 perc
cent of
its to
otal water amount.
12.T
The weightt a person loses dire
ectly after intense physical activity is we
eight
from
m water, not
n fat.
6
6 Water in Our Life
Water conservation in the home...
Replacing an 18 litre per flush toilet with an ultra-low volume (ULV) 6 litre flush
model represents a 70% savings in water flushed and will cut indoor water use by
about 30%.
7 Water in Our Life
11. Use your dishwasher and clothes washer for only full loads
Automatic dish hwashers and clothes washers sh hould be fu ully loaded ffor optimum
m water
coonservation n. Most mak kers of dish
hwashing so oap recomm mend not p pre-rinsing dishes
which is a big watter savings.
W
With clothess washers, avoid the permanent
p press cyclee, which usses an addeed 20
littres (5 gallo
ons) for the
e extra rins
se. For parttial loads, adjust
a water levels to match
the size of the e load. Repllace old clothes washe ers. New En nergy Star rated wash hers use
35 - 50% less s water andd 50% less energy perr load. If yo ou're in the
e market for a new
cloth
hes washerr, consider buying a water-saving
w g frontload washer.
12. Minim
mize use of kitchen sink garbage disposal un nits
In-sink 'c
carburettorss' require lo
ots of water to operate properly, and also add
a
considerably to the voluume of solid ds in a septtic tank which can lead
d to mainte
enance
p
problems. S
Start a com
mpost pile as
a an altern nate method of disposing food wa aste.
8
8 Water in Our Life
W
Water c
conser
rvation
n in the
e yard and garden....
16. Plant drought-res
d sistant lawns, shrubs and plants
if you are plantinng a new laawn, or ove er seeding an
a existing lawn, use d drought-resistant
gra
asses such as the new w "Eco-Law wn".
Manny beautifuul shrubs annd plants th
hrive with far
f less wattering than other spec cies.
Repllace herbacceous peren nnial borders with nattive plants. Native plants will usee less
water and be mo ore resistan
nt to local plant
p diseas
ses. Consider applying g the principles of
xeeriscape for a low-maintenance, drought re esistant yarrd.
Plant slo
opes with plants
p that will retain water
w and help reduce e runoff.
Group plants
p according to the eir watering
g needs.
18. Don
n't water th
he gutter
Position your spriinklers so w
water lands
s on the law
wn or garde
en, not on p
paved areas. Also,
avoid wattering on windy days.
19. Water
W your lawn only when it nee eds it
A goodd way to se ee if your la
awn needs watering
w is
s to step on
n the grass.. If it spring
gs back
up whe en you mov ve, it doesnn't need wa ater. If it stays flat, the lawn is reeady for wa atering.
Lettting the grrass grow taller
t (to 3"") will also promote
p waater retentiion in the soil.
s
Most lawns only need abo out 1" of wa ater each week.
w Durin
ng dry spellls, you can stop
wattering altogether and thet lawn will go brown n and dormmant. Once cooler wea ather
arrives, the morniing dew and rainfall willw bring the lawn back to its usu ual vigor. This may
ressult in a bro
own summer lawn, bu ut it saves a lot of watter.
9
9 Water in Our Life
22. Ad
dd organic matter and d use efficie ent waterin ng systems for shrubs,, flower bed ds and
lawns
Adding organic material to your
y soil willl help incre
ease its abssorption annd water rettention.
Areass which are
e already planted can be 'top dressed' with compost orr organic matter. m
You
u can greattly reduce the
t amountt of water usedu for shrrubs, beds and lawns by:
- thee strategic placement of soaker hoses h
- installing a rain barrel
b waterr catchmen nt system
- insttalling a sim
mple drip-irrrigation sy ystem
Avoid
d over-wateering plants s and shrub bs, as this can
c actuallyy diminish plant healtth and
cause yellowing of the leaves.
When hand watering g, use a va ariable spra ay nozzle foor targeted watering.
23. Don't
D run th
he hose while washingg your car
Cle
ean the carr using a pa
ail of soapy water. Usee the hose only for rin
nsing - this simple
prractice can save as much as 150 0 gallons wh
hen washinng a car. Usse a spray nozzle
n
when rinsing for more effficient use of water. Better
B yet, use a wateerless car washing
w
sysstem; theree are severral brands, such as EccoTouch, whhich are noow on the market.
m
W
Water consservation co
omes naturrally when everyone
e in
n the family
y is aware of
o its
im
mportance, and parentts take the time to tea
ach childrenn some of tthe simple water-
w
ng methods
savin s around the home wh hich can ma ake a big diifference.
10
0 Water in Our Life
W
WATER
R HARV
VESTIN
NG
Rainwwater ha arvesting g is the gathering,
g , or accum
mulating and storing, of
rainwater. Rain nwater haarvesting has been n used to provide d drinking water,
w
wate
er for live
estock, water for irrrigation or to refilll aquiferss in a pro
ocess
ca
alled groundwater recharge. Rainwatter collectted from the roofs s of
housses, tentss and locaal institutions, or from spec cially prep
pared areas of
ground, can make
m an important
i t contribu
ution to drinking w water. In some
s
casess, rainwatter may beb the onlly availab ble, or ecoonomical,, water soource.
R
Rainwater systems are simp ple to construct fro om inexpe ensive loccal
materrials, and are pote entially su
uccessful in most habitable
h locations
s. Roof
rainwaater is ussually of good
g quallity and does not require
r tre
eatment before
conssumption. Household rainfa all catchm
ment syste ems are a appropriate in
areas with an average
a r
rainfall grreater thaan 200mm m per yea ar, and noo other
acceessible waater sourc ces (Skinnner and Cotton,
C 19992).
11
1 Water in Our Life
FLOODS .
Floods can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high it flows out of the
river channel, particularly at bends or meanders and causes damage to homes and businesses
along such rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away from
rivers and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by the
water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and commerce
by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood damage is
evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of repeated
periodic flooding.
Floods are caused by many factors: heavy precipitation, severe winds over water, unusual
high tides, tsunamis, or failure of dams, levels, retention ponds, or other structures that
contained the water.
Periodic floods occur on many rivers, forming a surrounding region known as the flood plain.
Heavy During times of rain or snow, some of the water is retained in ponds or soil, some is
absorbed by grass and vegetation, some evaporates, but the rest, which reaches stream
channels, is called Surface runoff. Floods occur when ponds, lakes, riverbeds, soil, and
vegetation cannot absorb all the water. Water then runs off the land in quantities that cannot
be carried within stream channels or retained in natural ponds and man-made reservoirs.
About 30 percent of all precipitation is in the form of runoff small and that amount might be
increased by water from melting snow. River flooding is often caused by heavy rain,
sometimes increased by melting snow. A flood that rises rapidly, with little or no advance
warning, is typically called a flash flood. Flash floods usually result from intense rainfall over
a relatively small area, or if the area was already saturated from previous precipitation.
Even when rainfall is relatively light, the shorelines of lakes and bays can be flooded by
severe winds, such as during hurricanes that blow water into the shore areas, exceeding the
capacity of the shoreline to contain the water.
Coastal areas are sometimes flooded by unusually high tides induced by strong winds over
the ocean surfaces. During a hurricane, a storm tide combines the normal tide plus the storm
surge, with higher waves on top.
12 Water in Our Life
DR
ROUGH
HTS
A droought is an extended
e peeriod of monnths or yearrs when a reegion notes a deficiency in its
wateer supply. Generally,
G thhis occurs when
w a regio
on receives consistentlyy below aveerage
precipittation. It cann have a subbstantial im
mpact on the ecosystem and agricullture of the affected
regioon. Althoughh droughts can c persist for
f several years,
y even a short, intense drough ht can
cauuse significaant damage and harm thhe local eco onomy. Thiss global pheenomenon has h a
widesprread impactt on agricultture. The United
U Natio
ons estimatees that an areea of fertilee soil the
size of Ukraine iss lost every year because of drough ht, deforestation, and cclimate instaability.
Lengthyy periods off drought haave long beeen a key triigger for maass migratioon and playeed a key
role inn a number of ongoing migrations and other humanitarian
h n crises in tthe Horn off Africa
a the Saheel.
and
13
3 Water in Our Life
14
4 Water in Our Life