Water and its Management

Global Water Distribution

• Oceans cover 75% of the Earth’s surface.

• Oceans and seas contain 97% of all the Earth’s water.

• Only 3% of the water on Earth is fresh water.

• Nearly two-thirds (65%) of this 3% fresh water is in the ‘deep freeze’ in the

ice sheets.

The Water Cycle

• Precipitation: moisture that reaches the surface in the form of rain, sleet,

snow, or hail.

• Rain is the most common type.

• Surface run-off: precipitation that flows over the ground surface,

eventually finding its way into streams and rivers.

• Interception: precipitation that doesn’t reach the Earth’s surface due to

being obstructed by trees and plants.

• Infiltration: precipitation soaks into sub-surface soils and moves into rocks

through cracks and pore spaces.

 • Through-flow: downslope movement of water through the soil, roughly parallel to the ground

surface.

• Ground water flow: slow horizontal movement of water through rock.

• Evaporation: water from oceans, seas and other water bodies is changed

from water droplets to water vapour (invisible gas) in the atmosphere due

to heat.

• Transpiration: evaporation or diffusion of water from plant leaves.

• Condensation: water vapour converted back into liquid (water droplets) or

solid (particles of ice) due to a decrease in temperature with increasing

height by air currents, e.g. clouds.

Water Supply
• Surface water: water in lakes, rivers and swamps.
• Ground water: water in the soil, and in rocks under the surface of the

ground.

• Aquifers: water stored in porous rocks under the ground.

• Alternating layers of permeable and impermeable rocks trap the water in

permeable rock;

• Folded layers of rock so water accumulates the most in the down fold;

• Permeable rocks outcropping on the surface receive new supplies of

rainwater;
 • Water is stored in the limestone and sandstone (porous) rocks below the

water table;

• Mechanical pumps, or human labour are used to raise water to the surface.

Artesian aquifer: an aquifer in which the water is under pressure.

• Water from a well sunk into an artesian aquifer will rise to the surface

without the need for a pump.

• Potable: safe to drink.

• Reservoirs: an artificial lake used as a source of water supply, usually

created behind a dam or by the side of a river (bank-side reservoir).

• Service reservoir: a reservoir where potable water is stored e.g. Water

tower and Cistern.

• Wells: a hole bored or dug into rock to reach the water stored in them.
• Rivers: a large, natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a

lake, or another river.

• They provide surface transfers of water to low-land areas where farms,

villages, towns and cities are concentrated.

• Desalination: removal of salt from seawater by:

• Distillation: water is boiled and released as vapour, leaving salt behind.

o The vapour is then condensed as liquid water and can be used.

o 10-30% efficient and uses a lot of energy.

o Provision of energy and salt water (brine) is a source of pollution.

 • Reverse osmosis: pumping water at high pressure through a fine

membrane.

• 30-50% efficient and requires lesser energy than distillation.

Water Usage
Domestic

• At home for drinking and cooking (3% of domestic water)

• MEDCs
 o Washing and flushing the toilet (50%)

o Washing clothes (20%)

o Gardening

o Washing cars

o Lost in leaks.

Industrial

• In factories for:

• Cooling;

• Mixing and making products such as dyes and paints;

• Bottling and canning in food and drink industries;

• Power generation.

Agricultural

• Mainly for irrigation (plants need water for transporting minerals, for

photosynthesis, and for the prevention of wilting);

• For domestic animals.

Water Quality and Availability

• Water-rich countries: countries with plentiful fresh water supplies:

• Some are large countries with plenty of land for rain to fall on e.g. Russia,

Canada, China, and some with the world’s greatest rivers flowing through

them e.g. Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi.

• However, big areas do not ensure water availability e.g. Australia, Argentina,

Sudan, due to containing substantial areas of desert within its borders.

• Water-poor countries: countries with scarce fresh water supplies:

• Dominated by desert countries.

• Except Singapore and Mauritius since they receive high precipitation totals,

but are tiny island states that have only small areas for rain to fall on.

• Water conflict: conflict between countries, states, or groups over an access

to water resources.

• Physical water scarcity: not enough water to meet both human demands

and those of ecosystems to function effectively.

• Arid regions frequently suffer from physical water scarcity.

• It also occurs where water seems abundant, but resources are over-

committed.

• Economic water scarcity: caused by a lack of investment in water

infrastructure or insufficient human capacity to satisfy the demand of water

in areas where the population cannot afford to use an adequate source of

water.

• Unlike Rural areas, Urban areas have higher access to safe drinking

water because:

• Cities are more wealthy places with factories and offices;

• On average, people’s incomes are higher;

• Easier to put pressure on the politicians or leaders to make improvements;

• Wealthy people are more likely to live in cities;

 • Water pipes are easier and cheaper to build when a lot of people live close

together.

Multipurpose Dam Projects

• Example: the Ramganga Dam, Uttarakhand, India.

Choice of site:

• High precipitation to provide sufficient water;

• Low temperature to prevent evaporation;

• Built on strong impermeable rock so water doesn’t drain and has a good

foundation;

• Built high up in order to have good potential for hydro-electric power;

• Narrow, steep sided valley for economic reasons;

• Rivers and lakes nearby to provide water;

• Away from developed areas to reduce the risk of pollution in reservoirs;

• Easily accessible;

Advantages Disadvantages

Generation of electricity in hydro-electric

Relocating people;
power plants;

Flood control; Flooding land;

Disrupting the life cycles of fish and other aquatic

Irrigation
organisms

Creates recreational land for tourism and Dam may become redundant due to sediment
leisure build up

Provision of water Very expensive to build

Creation of habitat for wetland species Requires maintenance

 Advantages Disadvantages

Access by boat to otherwise inaccessible Reduces jobs for farmers if natural fisheries are
areas affected

Altering water supply for people downstream the

Renewable source of energy
dam

Reducing soil enrichment downstream of the

Doesn’t produce greenhouse gases
dam

Reduces fossil fuel consumption

Creates more jobs

• Maximises water storage capacity.

• Sustainability of dams:

o Alternative for burning of fossil fuels as no greenhouse gases are

produced.

• Unsustainability of dams:

o Reservoir can become silted due to material carried into it by rivers;

o Dam structure under a lot of pressure can deteriorate and eventually

fail;
 o Have negative effects on the environment and fish population.

Water Pollution and its Sources

• Sewage: waste matter that is rich in organic matter, thus microbial

organisms can thrive in it.

• It is usually disposed in water bodies, and thus has to be treated.

• Domestic waste: sewage from rural and urban settlements carry many

pathogenic micro-organisms, increasing the content of nitrates and

phosphates in rivers.

• Detergents, metals and other manufactured products contain traces of toxic

chemicals.

• Industrial processes: use of chemicals, the processing of metal ores, and

the leaching of metals from waste heaps and dumps cause the presence of

metals in rivers (e.g. manganese, mercury, copper).

• Gases from industrial chimneys enter the atmosphere, where they dissolve

in water and form acid rain.

• Agricultural practices: surpluses of phosphorous and nitrogen not

absorbed by the plants are washed from the land or percolate into the

ground water.

• On farms, animal manure, synthetic fertiliser, and chemical pesticides are

main sources.

• Agrochemicals: pesticides, herbicides and fertiliser.

Impact of Water Pollution
• Global inequalities in sewage and water treatment: developing

countries have difficulty treating water and sewage compared to developed

countries as people aren’t educated and can’t put pressure on the

government.

• Risk of infectious bacterial diseases, typhoid and cholera: water-borne

diseases are caused by drinking contaminated water.

• Accumulation of toxic substances from industrial processes in lakes

and rivers: reduces oxygen in lakes and rivers, causing reduction in

photosynthesis and death of fish and insect larvae.

• Biomagnification of toxic substances in food chains: increases

concentration of a toxic substance (e.g. mercury and pesticides) in the

tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain, causing

illness.

• Bioaccumulation: accumulation of a toxic chemical in the tissue of a

particular organism.
• Formation of acid rain: burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil produce sulfur dioxide (SO2)

and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) that are blown long distances and react with water in the

atmosphere.

• SO2 dissolves in water to form sulfuric acid, and NOx dissolves to form nitric

acid that fall in the form of rain.

• pH: measured by acidity or alkalinity.

 o Ranges from very acidic, 1, to very alkaline, 14.

o 7 is neutral.

• The effect of acid rain on organisms in rivers and lakes:

• Lower pH makes the environment intolerable for aquatic life;

• Fish egg-laying is reduced, and young fish are malformed;

• Leaching of heavy metals such as aluminum, lead and mercury from the soil

into the water;

• Aluminum clogs fish gills and causes suffocation;

• Minerals essential for life, notably calcium and potassium, are washed out

of the lake or river, reducing algae growth and leaving less food for fish and

other animals.

• Nutrient enrichment leading to eutrophication:

• Increase in nutrients, such as nitrates and phosphates, in a water body

causes algae bloom (rapid growth of algae).

• Death of algae causes an increase in organic matter that acts as food for

bacteria as they decompose the dead algae.

• Bacteria use up oxygen, reducing oxygen content in the water and causing

the death of organisms.

Managing Pollution of Fresh Water

• Improve sanitation: separates human excreta from contact with humans,

achieved by toilets and latrines. Waste can be removed by:

• Connection to a system of sewer pipes or sewerage, that collects human

faeces, urine and waste water.

• Connection to a septic system, which consists of an underground, sealed

settling tank.

• Flush toilet: uses a holding tank for flushing water, and a water seal that

prevents smells.

• Pour toilet: has a water seal but uses water poured by hand for flushing.

• Pit latrine: type of toilet that collects human faeces in a hole in the ground

that is sometimes ventilated to take away smells.

• Composting toilet: dry toilet in which vegetable waste, straw, grass,

sawdust, and ash are added to the human waste to produce compost.

• Treatment of sewage: aims to reduce the Biological Oxygen Demand

(BOD) of the sewage.

• Sewage outfall: waste water from homes and industries is taken to a

sewage treatment plant in sewers.

• Screening tank: large objects are removed from the waste using a coarse

grid.

• Primary treatment, first settling tank: solid organic matter, mainly

human waste, settles at the bottom of the tank (sludge), which is treated in

a sludge-digester.
 o Clean water then overflows the sides of the tank and is taken to the

next stage.

• Secondary treatment, oxidation: water is pumped into a tank where

oxygen is bubbled through it.

o This encourages the growth of bacteria and other microbes that

break down organic matter, which cause BOD.

• Secondary treatment, second settling tank: water enters, where bacteria

settle to the bottom, forming more sludge.

o This cleaner water overflows the sides of the tank as effluent, usually

discharged into a river.

• Sludge digester: oxygen-free conditions are created that encourage the

growth of bacteria which can break down the sludge, releasing methane,

that can be burnt.

o Treated sludge can be dried in sludge lagoons and used as organic

fertiliser on farmland.

• Tertiary treatment: further filtering out of its effluent or its chlorination

which produces even cleaner effluent that protects the habitat in which it is

released.
• Water treatment: Water is made potable by undergoing coagulation treatment, being filtered

and disinfected.

• Coagulation: Particles in the water are stuck together and settle to the

bottom of the container.

• Water is then filtered through sand.

• Chlorination: to kill remaining pathogens, chlorine is added as a

disinfectant.

• Pollution control and legislation: puts pressure on polluters to find ways

to reduce pollutants.

• Industries are required to monitor the pollution they cause and keep it

within set level.

 • Bi-national Great lakes water quality agreement (GLWQA): a loading

limit of phosphorus was set at 11000 metric tonnes year-1 (per year) in

response to eutrophication issues in the Great Lakes of USA and Canada.

• Fines for exceeding set limits.

• Companies may be prosecuted and in extreme cases, forced to shut down.

• Companies may need government agreement on strategic plans to reduce

pollution levels.

• Incentives may be used to encourage companies to take part, such as

grants or tax relief, for those that do achieve a reduction in pollution.

Managing Water-Related Disease

• Water-borne disease: spread by consuming contaminated water due to

poor sanitation and untreated sewage, or by washing food, pots and pans,

or hands and face in dirty water.

• Examples: cholera and typhoid.

• Cholera: intestinal infection that causes severe diarrhoea that may lead to

dehydration and eventually death.

• Causes: poor sanitation, contamination of water and food, disruption of

piped water supplies after a natural disaster occurrence.

• Water-bred disease: the carrier breeds in water and spreads the disease

by biting its victims.

• Example: malaria.
 • Malaria: a life-threatening disease which is transmitted through the bite of

an infected Anopheles mosquito (vector) that carries the Plasmodium

parasite. Once bitten, the parasite reaches your bloodstream.

• Symptoms: high temperature and fever, diarrhoea, dehydration and feeling

weak.

• Life cycle of the malaria parasite:

• Strategies to control malaria:

o Sleeping under mosquito nets and using antimalarial drugs in and

around homes;

o Draining marshes and stagnant pools to eliminate breeding grounds;

 o Put kerosene over the tops of pools to choke the larvae;

o Spray antimalarial drugs on stagnant areas of water to kill the larvae;

o Use vaccinations;

o Educate people on the risks of malaria by setting up campaigns and

programmes.

• Strategies to control cholera:

o Ensure that sewage and drinking water are kept separate;

o Sewage removed directly into a treatment works;

o Water being treated before it’s delivered into homes;

o Do not use contaminated water to wash food;

o Hands should be washed after contact with any faecal material;

o Boiling water and chlorination