Chapter 16

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Water: A Precious Resource Water: A Precious Resource Water: A Precious Resource Water: A Precious Resource Water: A Precious Resource

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You are perhaps aware that 22 March iscelebrated as the world water day world water day world water day world water day world water day! A school celebrated ‘water day’ and invitedposters from the children of your agegroup. Some of the posters presentedon that day are shown in Fig. 16.1.

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Jal Hai, To Kal Hai Jal Hai, To Kal Hai Jal Hai, To Kal Hai Jal Hai, To Kal Hai Jal Hai, To Kal Hai

”””””

“If you have water, you can think of the future”“If you have water, you can think of the future”“If you have water, you can think of the future”“If you have water, you can think of the future”“If you have water, you can think of the future”teachers must very often be advising younot to waste water. No wonder wecelebrate

water day water day water day water day water day

every year to attract the attention of everybody towards theimportance of conserving water.

The amount of water recommended by the United Nations for drinking,washing, cooking and maintaining proper hygiene is a minimum of 50 litres per person per day.

This amount is about two and a half buckets of water per person per day. Is your family getting at least this much of water? If yes, youshould consider yourself fortunate because millions of people in our country do not get enough water. What about your friends and their families?Share your experience with them.In some places there is an acuteshortage of water. Taps running dry,long queues for water (Fig. 16.2), fights,marches and protests for demand of water have become a common sight,especially during summers. Some of thenewspaper clippings shown in Fig. 16.3clearly indicate this message. Is it not true that we face acute shortage of water?

Fig. 16.1Fig. 16.1Fig. 16.1Fig. 16.1Fig. 16.1 Collage of posters

What is the message you get fromthese posters? Write your observationsin your notebook and discuss them inthe class.Have you ever felt a shortage of water at home or at school? Your parents or

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Activity 16.1 Activity 16.1 Activity 16.1 Activity 16.1 Activity 16.1

Collect clippings from newspapers andmagazines on the news items, articlesand pictures related to water shortage.Paste them in your scrapbook and shareit with your friends. List some problemsfaced by the people and discuss themin the class. Water shortage has become a matter of concern throughout the world. It isestimated that in a few years from now

Fig. 16.4 Fig. 16.4 Fig. 16.4 Fig. 16.4 Fig. 16.4 Earth appears blue from space Fig. 16.2 Fig. 16.2 Fig. 16.2 Fig. 16.2 Fig. 16.2 Long queue for water Fig. 16.3 Fig. 16.3 Fig. 16.3 Fig. 16.3 Fig. 16.3 Newspaper clippings

Year 2003 was observed asthe International Year of Freshwater to make peopleaware of this dwindling natural resource.more than one third of the people inthe world could face water scarcity.Before we discuss why water isgetting scarce we must know how much water is available for use on our planet.

16.1 H16.1 H16.1 H16.1 H16.1 H

OW OW OW OW OW

MUCHMUCHMUCHMUCHMUCH

W W W W W

ATER ATER ATER ATER ATER

ISISISISIS

A A A A A

VAILABLE VAILABLE VAILABLE VAILABLE VAILABLE

Look at the picture of the earth takenfrom space. Why does it appear blue?Surely, you can guess! You are aware that about 71% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Almost all the water on theearth is contained in the seas andoceans, rivers, lakes, ice caps, asgroundwater and in the atmosphere.However, most of this water is not fit for human consumption. The water that isfit for use is freshwater. Perform the

W W W W W

ATER ATER ATER ATER ATER

: A P: A P: A P: A P: A P

RECIOUSRECIOUSRECIOUSRECIOUSRECIOUS

R R R R R

ESOURCEESOURCEESOURCEESOURCEESOURCE

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Paheli quickly calculated andfound that this amount isroughly 0.006% of all water found on the earth.following activity to estimate roughly the relative amount of water availablein some of these sources.

Activity 16.2 Activity 16.2 Activity 16.2 Activity 16.2 Activity 16.2

Most of us assume water to be a limitlessresource. From this activity can you

Remark Remark Remark Remark Remark Assume that this water represents all the water present on the earth. This represents totalfreshwater on the earth. This gives a measure of usable water present as groundwater.It represents all the water present in all the lakes andrivers of the world.StepsStepsStepsStepsSteps Take a medium-sized bucket and fill it up with water. It contains about twenty litres of water. Take a tea spoon of about 5 mL capacity and transfer 100spoons of water from the bucket to a small container, like a bathmug.From the bath mug transfer thirty spoons of water to a glasstumbler.Finally take out a quarter (1/4

th

)spoonfull of water from the mug.FigureFigureFigureFigureFigure

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The water left in the bucket represents the saline water present in the seas,oceans and partly as groundwater. This water is not fit for human use.

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The water left in the bath mug represents the water, which is present in thefrozen form in glaciers, ice caps and permanent snow; again not available readily.

Boojho wondered about thealarmingly small quantity of water available for our use.

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