CAJARDO, Renee

BSCE-1(LEP)

Topic: Sources of Water/

What? Why? Where? How?

Water is a valuable natural resource that is found in different forms in the

environment. It is important to understand how water moves through the
environment so that we can understand how is it to manage it successfully.

What is Water?
A transparent, tasteless, odorless and nearly colorless chemical substance
which is the main constituent of Earth’s streams, lakes, oceans, and the fluids of all
living organisms and is vital for all known forms of life. Covers 71% of Earth’s
surface.

Is made up of billions of molecules. Each molecule is made of one oxygen

and two hydrogen atoms held together by strong covalent bonds.

Density: 997 kg/m³

Formula: H2O
Boiling point: 100 °C
Molar mass: 18.01528 g/mol
IUPAC ID: Water, Oxidane

What is the role of water for the environment?

Water for the environment helps to restore a more natural flow regime to
rivers, creeks and wetlands.
The construction of dams and weirs has provided a more reliable source of
water for people but disrupted the natural flow cycle needed for healthy rivers and
wetlands. Growing demand for river water has also seen an overall reduction in the
amount of water available to support these floodplain habitats.
 Water for the environment is used to target specific outcomes for plants or
animals by providing the right amount of water at the right time for them to feed,
breed and grow.

What are some duties of Engineers in the Environment?

The goal of environmental engineering is to ensure that societal
development and use of water, land, air sources are sustainable. This goal is
achieved by managing the resources so that the environmental pollution and
degradation is minimized.

Engineers study water, soil and air pollution problems and develop technical
solutions needed to solve, attenuate or control these problems in a manner that is
compatible with legislative economic, social and political concerns.
Environmental engineers helps ensure that water supplies are clean from
contaminants, protected from pollution and readily available for people and farms
. Civil Engineers are particularly involved in such activities as water supply
and sewerage, management of surface water and ground water quality, remediation
of contaminated sites and solid waste management.
The activities of such engineers include but are not limited to planning,
design, construction and operation of water and waste water treatment facilities in
municipalities and industries. Modelling and analysis of surface water and and
groundwater quality, design of soil and remediation of systems, planning for the
disposal and reuse of waste waters and sludges and collection of transport,
processing recovery, and disposal of solid waste according to accepted engineering
practices.
Environmental engineering/ engineers are called upon to play an important
role in environmental protection because engineering solutions are required to
meet the environmental standards set by legislation.

What are the Types of Water Sources?

Water sources can be classified as protected or unprotected. Protected

sources are covered by stonework, concrete or other materials that prevent the
entry of physical, chemical and biological contaminants.
Typical characteristics of a protected water source:

 The water source is fully enclosed or capped and no surface water can run
directly into it.
 People do not step into the water while collecting it.
 Latrines, solid waste pits, animal excreta and other sources of pollution are
located as far away as possible from the water source and on ground lower in
elevation than the water source.
 There is no stagnant water within 5 metres of the water source.
 The water collection buckets or hand pump at the source are kept clean.

Unprotected sources are those with no barrier or other structure to

protect the water from contamination. All surface water sources, such as lakes,
rivers and streams or poorly constructed wells, are examples of unprotected
sources. Water from unprotected sources cannot be considered safe to drink unless
it has been treated.

Why do we need water?

1.Water in our daily lives:

Water is synonymous to life, as living objects cannot live without it. In spite of
people wasting water on a daily basis, no one can negate the need and importance
of water. As the water gets scarce due to pollution, we feel its greater importance.

Simply we use water in our houses for cooking, bathing and washing the
dishes. Water is used to grow food. In many dry areas farmers must bring water to
the fields through canals and expensive irrigation systems . Industries and factories
also use water. It is essential for maintaining an adequate food supply and a
productive environment for the human population and for other animals, plants,
and microbes worldwide.
2.Water in Environment:
Healthy rivers and wetlands support native wildlife alongside a range of industries,
including irrigation, dry land agriculture, fishing, tourism, timber production and
bee-keeping.

Where do we get water? (The main sources of Water)

1.) Rain Water: when evaporated water cools and coalesces in the
atmosphere, it falls back to earth in the form of rain. Cisterns and
barrels were used for ages to catch this fresh water, however air
pollution has changed the quality of the water around the world.
Rainwater is also an important source of water, although
on a relatively small scale. Collecting rain from roofs or other hard-
surfaced areas and storing it until it is needed can provide a valuable
source of water for many purposes.

2.) Ground Water: Ground water seeps into the earth through porous
soil and fractures in surface rocks. It then collects into underground
reservoirs or aquifers. The toxic-anoxic character depends on distance
from the source and mobility of the subsurface water. Typically the
deeper the water the more brackish it becomes. An aquifer is an
underground layer of water-bearing rock. Water-bearing rocks
are permeable, meaning that liquids and gases can pass through
them. Groundwater is the water contained in aquifers This is
replenished or recharged by precipitation that percolates through the
soil to the water table, and by water seeping from streams, as well as
other bodies of surface water, such as lakes and wetlands. The water
table is the top of the groundwater below the land surface. Its level
fluctuates seasonally and from year to year as the inputs from
precipitation and the outputs vary. The depth of the water table also
varies with location, from being near to the land surface in areas
close to surface water bodies and in humid climates, to being
hundreds of meters below the land surface in drier regions.
Groundwater reaches the surface naturally through springs or
artificially through wells. Springs typically rise up where the water
table meets the land surface. Springs are important sources of water
to feed streams and are attractive cultural and landscape features in
themselves. Wells and boreholes are dug by hand or drilled by
 machine. These have to be deep enough to extend below the water
table so that water can be drawn up by bucket or by pumping.

3.) Surface Water: lakes, rivers, ponds and streams are supplied by
rainfall and ice melt. Mostly fresh water, depending on runoff, lakes
can be clear or murky and generally contain organic elements from
bacteria to alligators. The amount of available surface water depends
largely on rainfall. When rainfall is limited, the supply of surface water
will vary considerably between wet and dry seasons and also
between years. One way to overcome this problem is to construct a
dam across a river to create a reservoir that provides water storage.
Large surface water reservoirs may be used for hydroelectric power
generation, regulating water releases to control river flows, for
recreational purposes and to provide water for agricultural, municipal
and industrial uses. Smaller dams are also used to enable irrigation
.The water collects behind the dam and flows under gravity into
irrigation channels leading to the fields
4.) Glacial or Ice Melt: Glaciers are a composite of different snow falls
which accumulate over the millennia. They advance and retreat over
time. Retreating glacier often contribute ground up surface material
called rock flour that lends a blue color characteristic of glacial lakes.
Otherwise ice is salt and mineral free
5.) Other Sources: On Earth most of the water is thought to originate
from comets when the planet was young. Volcanic eruptions can
contain 60% water vapor. Some water is created on the earth by
combustion of fuels such as burning hydrogen. Chemical processes in
animal bodies yield water

How do we Select Water Sources?

Water source selection :

The quantity, quality, and reliability of available water are three main factors that
need to be considered when evaluating water sources. Socio-cultural and technical
issues may also be important.
1.)Water quantity
If you were selecting a new source of water for a community you would need to be
sure that the volume of water that could be supplied would be sufficient to meet the
community’s needs, both now and in the future. It would also be important to
consider the reliability of the source over time.

2.)Water quality

The quality of water required depends on what it will be used for. Drinking water
must be clean and safe to drink and protected from any contamination by pathogens
or other pollutants. The primary concern must be to prevent the transmission of
waterborne diseases. For other water uses such as for domestic washing or for
agricultural or industrial uses, the quality is less critical.

3.) Socio-cultural considerations

Socio-cultural considerations may be important for water source development.

Before a new water source is developed, a thorough assessment of the needs and
wishes of the community should be undertaken, involving all groups of people
including women, men, and children, members of any distinct social groups,
disabled persons, and other vulnerable groups. It is particularly important that
women participate in the process because they are likely to have the most
knowledge about existing sources and are most likely to benefit if new supplies are
developed. If the community’s opinions are not taken into account, the water supply
system is likely to be under-used and may easily fall into disrepair, causing people to
revert to their old water sources which may be more polluted.

How does Humans affects Water?

Depletion and contamination of water sources

humans interact with water both by using it and by producing the wastes that may
contaminate it. Both of these activities can damage water sources.