SCIENCE PROJECT TERM II

47
UDIT MUTHA
XB
 S.NO. TOPIC SLIDE NO.

DAMS AND
1 3-4
CONSTRUCTION
THEIR ADVANTAGES
2 5-6
AND DISADVANTAGES

PHYSICS
3 7-8
TOPIC
BIOLOGY
4 9
TOPIC
CHEMISTRY

INDEX 5
TOPIC
10
DAMS

▪ A dam is a barrier constructed to hold back water and raise its level,
forming a reservoir used to generate electricity or as a water supply.

▪ An artificial dam or reservoir is most commonly an enlarged natural

or artificial lake created using a dam to store fresh water.

▪ Dams are significant for Power generation, Water supply, Stabilize

water flow / irrigation, Flood prevention, Land reclamation, Water
diversion, Navigation and many more.
CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS
WHY-
The purpose of a dam is to store water, for any of several reasons, such as flood
control, human water supply, irrigation, livestock water supply, energy
generation, containment of mine tailings, recreation, or pollution control.

WHERE –

One of the best places for building a dam is a narrow part of a deep river valley;
the valley sides can then act as natural walls. The primary function of the dam's
structure is to fill the gap in the natural reservoir line left by the stream channel.
 ADVANTAGES OF DAMS
▪ Recreation
Boating, skiing, camping, picnic areas, and boat launch facilities are all supported by dams.
▪ Flood Control
In addition to helping farmers, dams help prevent the loss of life and property caused by
flooding.
▪ Water Storage
Dams create reservoirs that supply water for many uses, including industrial, municipal, and
agricultural.
▪ Irrigation
Today, the system irrigates nearly 9,000 km² of agricultural land in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand.
▪ Electrical Generation
Dams produce over 103,800 megawatts of renewable electricity and meet 8 to 12 percent of the
Nation's power needs. Hydropower is considered clean because it does not contribute to global
warming, air pollution, acid rain, or ozone depletion.
DISADVANATGES OF DAMS

▪ Dams can displace a significant number of people.

An estimated 500 million people have been displaced by dams in the last two
centuries because of the reservoirs that form behind each structure.
▪ This technology disrupts local ecosystems.
Dams create a flooding issue behind the structure as a way to form a reservoir.
▪ Some river sediment is beneficial.
Dams can have a profound impact on the overall aquatic ecosystem of a region.
▪ Dams create a flooding risk if they experience a failure.
We might use dams to provide us with a form of flood control, but the failure of this
structure can have devastating consequences for downstream communities.
▪ Reservoirs can be challenging to maintain.
When drought is a significant issue for a community, then a reservoir that’s behind
a dam can be a vital resource.
ENERGY CONVERSION AT DIFFERENT STEPS

▪ Water is collected or stored at a higher

elevation and led downward through
large pipes or tunnels (penstocks) to a
lower elevation; the difference in these
two elevations is known as the head. At
the end of its passage down the pipes,
the falling water causes turbines to
rotate. The turbines in turn drive
generators, which convert the turbines’
mechanical energy into electricity.
 → Potential energy in water

→ Kinetic energy in flowing water

→ Kinetic energy in turbine

→ Electrical energy
ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCE CAUSED BY DAMS

▪ The erosion of land. Dams hold back the sediment load normally found in a
river flow, depriving the downstream of this. In order to make up for the
sediments, the downstream water erodes its channels and banks. This
lowering of the riverbed threatens vegetation and river wildlife.
▪ Fisheries become an increasingly important source of food supply more
attention is being paid to the harmful effects of dams on many fish and
marine mammal populations. The vast majority of large dams do not
include proper bypass systems for these animals, interfering with their life
cycles and sometimes even forcing species to extinction.
▪ Dam reservoirs in tropical areas, due to their slow-movement, are literally
breeding grounds for mosquitoes, snails and flies, the vectors that carry
malaria, Schistosomiasis and river blindness
POLLUTION CAUSED BY DAM CONSTRUCTION

• Greenhouse gases: The flooding of surrounding habitat around dams kills

trees and other plant life that then decomposes and releases large
amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
• Large dams have led to the extinction of many fish and other aquatic
species, the disappearance of birds in floodplains, huge losses of forest,
wetland and farmland, erosion of coastal deltas.
• Destroy carbon sinks in wetlands and oceans, deprive ecosystems of
nutrients, destroy habitats, increase sea levels, waste water.
▪ Downstream from dams, farmers can benefit from a steady year-round
water flow That leads to less irrigation and lower yields around the dams,
which more than cancels out the downstream benefits.
THE END