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Water

Omar Khayat

Faisal Al-Amoudi

Abdulaziz Abuldouh

Abdullah Sejeni

Introduction to water

Water is the mostcommon liquid on ourplanet, vital to all lifeforms. It is the dispersionmedium for allbiochemical reactions of the living process andtakes part in many of these reactions. In spiteof the chemical simplicity of the water molecule, its physicalproperties are quite remarkable -- one might say weird! -- andhave been a major research topic for many years. Manyexperiments give great insight into the structure and dynamics of water, but these often require the resources of a major researchlaboratory. In addition, some must take place under extremeconditions, such as those leading to superheated or supercooledwater.Water has been studied since antiquity. What is new is thatcomputers now allow us to start with elementary interactionsbetween molecules and from them predict the large--scaleproperties of water, such as pressure, temperature, volume,solubility of salts, and so forth. In other words, computers can beused to calculate the physical quantities of water related to everyday life. The computer simulation

Wasser

(the German word for ``water'')has made a major contribution to research on the behaviour of water. The addition of a graphical interface that pictures theatoms helped to make the

Wasser

program usable for studentsand increased its usefulness for research workers. The computersimulation not only correctly predicts macroscopic properties inagreement with experiment, but also allows us to investigatewater under severe experimental conditions that are accessibleonly with great difficulty or not at all.

WATER POLLUTION

CAUSES OF POLLUTION

Many causes of pollution including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such asnitrates and phosphates. In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequentlyclogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light todeeper waters.This, in turn, proves very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respirationability or fish and other invertebrates that reside in water.Pollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as soil, washoff plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas, and eroded river bankswhen it rains. Under natural conditions, lakes, rivers, and other water bodies undergoEutrophication, an aging process that slowly fills in the water body with sediment andorganic matter. When these sediments enter various bodies of water, fishrespirationbecomes impaired, plant productivity and water depth become reduced, andaquatic organisms and their environments become suffocated. Pollution in the form of organicmaterial enters waterways in many different forms as sewage, as leaves and grassclippings, or as runoff from livestock feedlots and pastures. When natural bacteriaand protozoan in the water break down this organic material, they begin to use up theoxygen dissolved in the water. Many types of fish and bottom-dwelling animalscannot survive when levels of dissolved oxygen drop below two to five parts per million. When this occurs, it kills aquatic organisms in large numbers which leads todisruptions in the food chain.