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WATER AND ITS MANAGEMENT

Importance of Water on Earth

 Water sustains human life on earth. It is needed for drinking, bathing, irrigation,
recreation, fishing, sewage disposal etc
 Water also sustains plant life
 Fresh water is the main resource on earth. Without it, there would be no plants and no
animals (no life)
 Water globally is locked up in TWO major reserves, that is, ice or solid form and
liquid.
 Oceans cover 71% of earth’s surface.
 Oceans and seas contain 97% of all the water.
 Only 3% is fresh water (non-salty/non-saline water)
 Most of this freshwater is stored frozen in ice sheets

GLOBAL FRESH WATER STORES

SOURCE PERCENTAGE/%

ICE SHEETS AND GLACIERS 74.6

GROUNDWATER (Above 1000m) 10.6
DEEP GROUNDWATER (Below 1000m) 14
LAKES 0.3
RIVERS 0.02
SOIL 0.05

USES OF FRESH WATER

 Water is used for different purposes that include Domestic, Industrial and Agricultural

Domestic Uses

 For cooking food

 For washing clothes, cars etc
 For flushing the toilets
 For bathing
 In swimming pools
 For cleaning houses and household items
 For watering gardens
 For disposal of sewer in the rivers
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Industrial Uses

 For cleaning engines

 For cooling engines
 For mixing with chemicals during manufacturing
 For generation of Hydro-electricity (HEP)
 For disposing effluent

Agricultural Uses

 In irrigation of crops
 Mixing with chemicals and vaccines
 For cleaning animals and their shelters like pig sty

Recreational uses

 Boat cruising
 swimming
 water surfing
 skiing

a(i) Name the two stores of fresh water labeled B and C on the section.
(ii) Why might it be possible for people to obtain fresh water, at point D, other than
from the river? How could people obtain this water [3]

 Drilling borehole and then mount a bush pump to pump up the water to the surface for
use/ drilling a protected well and use a tin or manual pump
 You can drill a borehole to the water table then connect pipes and a tape.
 May come out naturally as springs
 You may use animal power such as Persian wheel
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(iv) Choose one of the sources from A–D which is likely to have water that will be safe
and clean for people to use. Explain your choice. [2]

 D is safe because solid particles are filtered out as water passes through pervious
rock underground until the water settles in the layer of sandstone at D.
 C is also another safe option because the snow and ice are high in the mountains where
no one lives and are maintained as pure rainwater.

Lakes are better than rivers because there is a chance for impurities to settle out, but they are
affected by
what flows into them.

(v) Which one of the four sources is least likely to give clean water? Explain your choice. [3]

 Rivers are almost impossible to justify since they tend to flow through settled areas and
are used for sewage disposal.
 Also industries discharge their effluent into the rivers bringing pathogens and heavy
metals.
 Also fertilisers from farms get washed into rivers so making the water contaminated.

(b) Dams are often built to hold back reservoirs for water supply.
(i) Give the name and location of a dam. [1]
(ii) Explain why the dam was built and what advantages it has brought to the local
people. [5]

Qstn: Explain more fully why the amount of water available for human use is so small. [3]

 75% of fresh water locked up in ice and snow only available when these melt,
 most located in cold places where few people live anyway,
 easy to reach surface sources like rivers and lakes make up only 0.4 %,
 more groundwater available but more difficult/costly to obtain than surface stores,
 much of the groundwater is deep and out of the reach of humans,
 comment about the value of rivers as water supply for people, yet they are only 0.1%,
 high costs of desalination.

Qstn: Possible advantages of groundwater stores

 it is clean since not easily polluted

 It is more reliable throughout the year all seasons.
 It is not subject to short term weather variations
 It is free from evaporation since it is underground

THE WATER CYCLE

 A water cycle is the continuous movement of water between the earth’s surface and the
atmosphere.
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 It is one of the Earth’s great natural systems.

 It has inputs, outputs, stores, flows and transfers.
 The water cycle operates as an open system, where there are inputs, processes and
outputs.
 NB: SOLAR HEATING drives the whole system.

INPUTS: Precipitation

OUTPUTS: Evaporation, transpiration,

PROCESSES: surface runoff, channel flow, condensation, infiltration, percolation, interception,

groundwater flow/base flow, through flow, evaporation, transpiration, evapotranspiration

 Processes are classified into two namely flows and stores:

STORES: surface stores like lake/dam, interception, groundwater,

FLOWS/TRANSFERS: surface runoff, infiltration, percolation, groundwater flow/ baseflow,

throughflow, evaporation, transpiration
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PROCESSES OF THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

 Precipitation refers to the various forms of water falling from the atmosphere to the
earth’s surface. There are many different types of precipitation namely:
1. Rainfall- liquid water droplets falling to the ground
2. Snow- soft ice falling to the ground
3. Hail- small ice stones/pellets falling to the ground
4. Sleet – half-frozen rain
 Evaporation happens when water in oceans, lakes is heated and changes from liquid to
water vapour in the atmosphere.
 Transpiration is loss of water from plants through stomata into the atmosphere
 Evapotranspiration is the combination of water loss from water sources and trees
 Interception is the when water is captured or trapped and held by plant leaves and
branches.
 Surface Runoff is the flow of water over the surface downslope towards rivers and
seas.
 Infiltration is the sinking of water into the soil
 Percolation is the further downward movement of infiltrated water towards the water
table
 Groundwater is the water stored between rocks underground below the water table
 Water table is the top part of groundwater OR Top part of saturation zone OR the level
of water underground
 Groundwater flow/baseflow is the horizontal flow of water through rock below the
water table towards the nearest rivers
 Through flow is the horizontal movement of water through the soil just below the
surface [from the soil moisture zone to the nearest river]
 Condensation is when water vapour changes to liquid or solid through cooling.

FACTORS INFLUENCING RUNOFF

1. Urbanisation
 Construction of tarred roads and concrete pavements are impermeable so
reduce infiltration and increase runoff
2. Afforestation
 Trees have roots that create more cracks and so increase infiltration hence less
runoff
 Trees also intercept rainfall and reduce water reaching the surface so less runoff
 When trees intercept rainfall, they reduce raindrop impact on the soil so increase
infiltration so reducing runoff
 Tree roots also absorb water from the ground so reduce runoff
 Trees also produce leaves that decay and so increase infiltration thus reducing
runoff
3. Deforestation
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 Clearing vegetation reduces interception so increases water reaching the surface

which increases runoff
 There are also less tree roots to open cracks so less infiltration which gives high
runoff
 Also tree roots which absorb water from the soil are no more so high surface
runoff
 If the area is bare, the raindrops hit directly on the soil and compact soil which
reduces infiltration so increase runoff
4. Cultivation
 If a soil is cultivated, it is made loose and more pore spaces made which increase
infiltration so increase surface runoff.

Effects of vegetation cover on the water cycle

Areas of Dense vegetation Sparse vegetation

1. Infiltration is high as plant roots open up 1.Low infiltration

cracks for water to infiltrate

2. Runoff is low 2. Runoff is high

3. high interception by tree leaves and 3. Low interception

branches
4. low evapotranspiration
4. High evapotranspiration
5. Low rainfall
5. High rainfall

The Role of Water within the Ecosystem

 Ecosystem is the interaction of living and non-living organisms within a given

environment
 It is the relationship between the living and the non-living organisms within a given
environment
 Biotic organisms refers to the living organisms , eg plants, bacteria, fungi, animals
 Abiotic refers to the non-living organisms, eg, soil, humidity rainfall, sunlight, air,
temperature, rocks, etc

Photosynthesis

 Photosynthesis is the process whereby green plants produce their own food (glucose)
using carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.

 Carbon dioxide + water + light energy = carbohydrates + oxygen

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 Light energy is captured by plants ( by chlorophyll) and changed into chemical energy
through the process of photosynthesis
 Plant roots absorb water containing soluble nutrients from the soil.

Water ‘reliability’ and ‘availability’

 In the world, some areas receive high and reliable rainfall, eg the equatorial rainforests
eg Amazon Basin in Brazil, Congo Basin in DRC
 Some high altitude/mountainous areas tend to have many perennial rivers and receive
additional rainfall. These areas are called WATER RICH COUNTRIES.
 However, some areas receive very low rainfall which is also unreliable, eg the Hot
Desert and semi-arid areas.
 Some areas have insufficient, low and unreliable water for agricultural and industrial
uses.
 In many LEDCs such as Kenya , Somalia, Ethiopia, water shortages are very common.
These countries lack enough capital to purify or chlorinate the water as well as high
population which usually makes the cities overpopulated
 These countries are known as WATER POOR COUNTRIES

Water Rich Countries

These are countries with plentiful fresh water supply. The world’s top ten water rich countries
are shown below:

COUNTRY AMOUNT

1.CANADA (Temperate) 87 000

2. PERU (Most part in Tropical Rainforest) 66 000
3. BOLIVIA (Tropical Rainforest) 64 000
4. CHILE (Most part in Tropical Rainforest) 55 000
5. COLOMBIA (Tropical Rainforest) 47 000
6. VENEZUELA (Tropical Rainforest) 44 000
7. BRAZIL (Tropical Rainforest) 43 000
8. CAMBODIA Tropical Rainforest) 33 000
9. RUSSIA (Temperate) 32 000
10. ECUADOR (Tropical Rainforest) 31 000

Why are they water rich?

 Some of the countries are found in the Tropical Rainforest which receive high rainfall
throughout the year like Brazil, Equador
 Some countries have the world’s largest or greatest rivers flowing through them like
China’s Yangtze river, Mississippi River in USA etc.
 Also some of these countries have large amounts of snow and have low temperatures
which reduce evaporation of water.
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Water Poor Countries

 These are countries which have low, unreliable rainfall (deserts) and insufficient water
for domestic, agricultural and industrial use.
 These countries are likely to suffer from WATER STRESS
 Water stress refers to worries over the present and future water supplies.
 One third of the world‘s population is estimated to be living in countries experiencing
medium to high water stress.
 However, there are variations within each country’s region , for example rural versus
urban.

A list of 9 most water-poor countries. Why are they water poor?

 The main reason for water poor is environmental/natural climate. Desert countries
receive very low rainfall and is poorly distributed and infrequent so not adequate to
use domestically, industrially and for agricultural purposes.
 Moreover, the temperatures are very high causing high evaporation and drying up of the
few water sources.

COUNTRY AMOUNT

YEMEN 91
SAUDI ARABIA 95
ALGERIA 340
TUNISIA 450
EGYPT 700
KENYA 800
MOROCCO 900
SOUTH AFRICA 1000
DENMARK 1100

QSTN: How do water poor countries obtain their water?

 They can drill or sink boreholes

 They can also construct dams
 They can import water from other countries by pipelines
 They can desalinize sea water
 They can use bottled water

1. Desalinisation/desalination

 It is the process whereby seawater is changed into freshwater by removing salt from the
seawater. It is done by coastal countries only since they have access to the sea or
ocean

Problems of desalinisation
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 To desalinize, great amount of energy is required

 Also, a large amount of capital is needed. These desert countries use revenue from oil.
 It also requires high levels of technology
 Also skilled experts are needed

QSTN: Suggest reasons why some countries do not do desalination. [4]

2. Sinking/Drilling boreholes in areas of large aquifers

 Underground water reserves can be utilized for domestic use by drilling deep boreholes
to reach the water table.
 Pipes are then installed
 A pump is fixed and water is pumped out
 The water can then be used for domestic, agricultural and industrial use

3. Importing water from water rich countries

 This is when a network of pipes is connected from a far-away river/glacier to the dry area
which is hundreds of kilometers away.
 The water can be transferred through pipelines or canals. For example, State of
California in USA is dry but receives water from the Rocky Mountains that are far away.

Problems of importing water

 Is very expensive/costly to have enough pipes for several kilometers

 There is displacement of people
 It destroys animal habitats and river ecosystems along its way
 Is not reliable since it depends on the other country

Methods of Obtaining Fresh water

 Building dams to conserve water

 Drilling boreholes or wells
 Doing cloud-seeding
 Do water harvesting from rooftops and store in tanks
 Do desalinization of ocean water
 Use standing pipe

QSTN: Describe ways of making fresh water safe to drink (potable). [2]

 You do filtration of the water in order to remove solid particles then

 add chlorine to kill the pathogens/bacteria
 You can also boil the water to kill the pathogens/bacteria.
 Aqua-tablets can be used to kill the pathogens in water

Variations in the amount of water Use in Regions

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 Average water use varies from country to country and also within the regions in a
country.
 The majority of Africa lives in rural areas where water is scarce and given the dry desert
climate, water is scarce.
 In contrast, in Europe, the countries use large volumes of water for domestic purposes
like flushing toilets and the water is made available

Question: Why is domestic water use in MEDCs like UK higher than in LEDCs like Zimbabwe.
[3]

 Medcs use large volumes of water in flushing toilets.

 They also use a lot of water in washing of clothes using washing machines as well as in
the washing of cars which are many at each household
 They also have big gardens which use large amounts of water in watering
 Also bathing uses large volumes of water in tubs or taking a shower.

Water Supply from Groundwater Store

Aquifer

 This is an underground store of water where water is stored in between two

impermeable rocks like shale
 Large amounts of water are sandwiched in a permanent rock eg, sandstone which is
porous
 Water is recharged by rains in highlands into this permeable rock and is drained into the
porous rock for shortage
 Boreholes are drilled deep down into the permeable rock layer.

Describe the geological occurrence of the aquifer. [4]

 Water is found in the folded layers of rocks accumulating in a down fold

 Water is trapped between two impermeable sedimentary rocks
 Water is stored in the pervious/permeable sandstone rock
 The aquifer is found in the sandstone rock
 A well is then dug deep into the water table
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How water is extracted from the aquifer

 A hole is drilled into up to the water table

 Connect pipes from the water table in the permeable rocks
 Mount a borehole pump
 Pump water out by the system of levers

Qstn: Suggest problems with extracting water from an underground water store. Suggest
solutions to these problems.

 engineering problems/ cost of drilling/ hard to extract;

SOLUTION: get financial aid and expertise from outside;
 contamination by human activities on the earth like sewage, fertilizers that are leached
down;
SOLUTION: pollution control measures like treating sewage before discharging ;
 running out of water in the aquifer when uptake exceeds replenishment or addition by
rainfall ;
SOLUTION: water conservation measures like water rationing or rainwater harvesting to
save groundwater;
 collapse of ground;
SOLUTION: constructing buildings/ dykes to take account/ recharge of aquifer;
 overexploitation leads to less water elsewhere/ other countries/ ref. to conflict;
SOLUTION: political discourse/ agreement (countries must negotiate to solve the
problem)
 saltwater intrusion in coastal sites;
SOLUTION: water conservation;

Reasons why people live along rivers

Throughout the world many people settle near rivers countries like Bangladesh (Ganges), USA
(Mississippi), Egypt (Nile river) etc

 There is water for domestic use like washing, drinking, bathing

 There is water for agricultural uses like irrigation for crop cultivation
 Water transport ie easy navigation
 Water for recreational purposes like boat cruising
 Water for industrial use
 For generation of HEP

LARGE SCALE DAM PROJECT/ MULTI-PURPOSE DAMS

 These are dams which provide water for a variety of purposes to people.
 Examples: Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe across Zambezi River, Three Gorges Dam in
China across Yangtze River, Aswan Dam in Egypt across Nile river.

Factors influencing the siting of a large dam

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1. Presence of a perennial river ----- This ensures continuous supply of water throughout
the whole year
2. Narrow Gorge ---- this is a narrow, deep, steep sided valley which reduces costs of
building the dam wall
3. Impermeable resistant rock -------This rock gives a firm and stable foundation for the
dam wall. Moreover, impermeable rock prevents high infiltration and percolation of
stored water reducing losses.
4. Highland areas/ Mountainous areas ------ Highlands have cool temperatures so reduce
evaporation of water. Also relief rainfall increases the amount of rainfall received and
stored in the dam.
5. A natural Reservoir like a lake ------ This allows large volumes of water to be stored
for HEP generation
6. Sparsely populated area ----- This reduces the cost of relocating the people since they
need to be compensated. This is the main HUMAN FACTOR.

Advantages of Large Scale Dams

 They provide water for irrigation purposes to increase crop yields like in Egypt
 They provide water for domestic uses like cooking, watering livestock, etc
 There is also water for industrial uses such as cleaning machine
 They are also used to generate Hydro-electricity(HEP)
 They promote tourism which creates employment as tour guides, hotel maids
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 Large dam also reduce flooding risks

 They lead to the development of recreational activities like boat cruising, bungee
jumping
 There is improved navigation
 Fishing is developed for food and for sale
 Places of religious importance like mosques,, churches, graveyards etc

Disadvantages of Large Scale Dams

A. On The Environment

 There is massive deforestation as land is cleared and animal habitats are lost
 There is breaking of food chains and reduced biodiversity
 There is reduced water flow (discharge) downstream which threatens some aquatic life
with extinction. eg, the giant Panda on the downstream side of the Three Gorges Dam
 Large dams may cause earth tremors
 There is reduced silt deposited downstream so reducing soil fertility
 Dam failure may cause worse flooding upstream and when the dam wall breaks.
 Sediments are trapped and deposited in the dam causing siltation of dams
 There is noise pollution during construction due to heavy vehicles and dynamites
 Fish are trapped and cannot migrate

B. On the People (Social and Economic)

 The local people are forced to relocate so affecting their way of life
 People resettled are usually not fully compensated. Especially in developing countries
where funds are usually borrowed
 There is an increase in water related disease like malaria
 There is loss of fertile farmland leading to low crop production
 Large dams are expensive to build so the country may end up in huge debts in repaying
the loan
 There is reduced water flow (discharge) downstream.
 Large dams may cause flooding in case of dam failure.

Question: Why is it expensive to build large dams? [3]

1. It is expensive to compensate the people who are relocated

2. It requires large amounts of money to buy generators and other durable equipment
3. It is expensive to hire experts to build the dam
4. Usually best physical conditions are often in remote areas far away from the people so
very expensive since long distances power lines need to be fixed.

Qstn: A dam has been proposed to be constructed in a village. Suggest the reasons for
and against the proposal. [5]

Contrasts in the availability of water between LEDCs and MEDCs

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 Clean water refers to potable water which is water that is safe to drink or use for food
preparation.
 Potable water is water suitable for human consumption
 Sanitation refers to level of hygiene and waste disposal
 Access to clean water and sanitation is high in MEDCs is 100%
 This is because these countries are rich , wealthy and technologically advanced
 In contrast, LEDCs’s access to water supply and sanitation is very low due to poverty
 In MEDCs, like UK, above 90% of the population live in cities hence demand for water is
very high for flushing toilets, washing dishes and laundry, water parks and high use of
water in swimming pools, etc

Qstn: Suggest why MEDCs like UK have far much higher percentage use of water for
domestic purposes than LEDCs like Bangladesh. [4]

 In UK there is high water use in watering their large home gardens which are small in
Bangladesh
 There are also high volumes of water used in flushing toilets yet most people in
Bangladesh use blair toilets in the rural areas
 High water use by machines doing dish washing
 Also much water in laundry since the water is available and they use machine

(ii) Suggest why desalination is used to supply fresh water in some countries but not in
other countries. [3]

 Some countries have plenty of fresh water supplies like rivers so no need for
desalinisation
 Some countries have access to coasts/good access to oceans or seas so can do
desalinisation;
 process is very expensive/cannot afford desalination;
 process needs a lot of energy which may not be available for some countries;
 requires high levels of technology;
 some are water poor so need for desalinisation;

(b) (i) Explain why access to safe water and sanitation is often limited in rural areas of
developing countries compared to urban areas. [3]

 people are poorer than urban areas so are unable to drill borehole and connect piped
water and sewer.
 There is lack of technology and skills to treat water and sewage in rural areas yet in
urban areas, the technology to treat water and sewage waste is there
 most government officials or politicians are based in urban areas so rural are too remote
from decision makers who are in the cities;
 urban people are rich and can afford to buy clean water or drill their own boreholes.
 government or people cannot pay for water infrastructure needed in all rural areas;
 (large distances) difficult or expensive to provide pipes or sewers;
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 People are too dispersed/sparse in many rural villages so providing pipes is expensive
difficult unlike in towns where they are densely populated so cheaper to connect pipes
 people in the rural areas cannot give/exert political pressure to get the water;
 government does not prioritise development of rural areas;

(ii) Explain why it is important for developing countries to improve access to safe water and
sanitation. [2]

 water is a basic human need so every person need to drink it for the body to function;
 clean water prevents illness or death which would reduce the workers’ working hours
 also clean water prevents water-related disease(s) caused by polluted water; e.g.
bilharzia/cholera/malaria/typhoid/diarrhoea;
 irrigation water, improves farming and so increases crop yields;
 encourages industrial and tourism development;
 breaks poverty cycle or improve peoples’ productivity;

WATER POLLUTION

 It is the contamination of water making it unsafe for human consumption.

Sources of water pollution

(a) Domestic Uses

 These include household waste, sewage waste discharge into rivers, dams
 Human waste carries many pathogens and this adds to the river pollutants
 Domestic waste also includes detergents, metals and many other manufacturing
products containing traces of toxic chemicals.

(b) Industrial Sources

 Industrial processing of metals in industries lead to heavy metals like mercury, copper
and lead being deposited into rivers and dams. Also leaching of metals from waste
heaps and dumps cause water pollution
 The discharge of untreated industrial effluent into rivers and dams especially in
developing countries has dangerous effect on humans, animals and plant life.

NB: Domestic and industrial waste should be treated before being released into rivers and
dams. However, in many developing countries, sewage treatment plants cannot be afforded
since hundreds of millions of litres of sewage and toxic industrial waste is emptied into rivers
and seas every year.

(c) Agricultural Sources

 Excess fertilizers are carried and deposited into rivers and dams. Also pesticides and
herbicides are also deposited into water sources. Amount of these chemicals has greatly
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increased due to intensive farming methods used by farmers in order to increase crop
yields.
 This causes the problem of eutrophication.

Impacts of water pollution

Water pollution has impacts to both the people and the environment.

 Untreated sewage deposited in rivers and dams contaminate the water with pathogens
which cause water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhea
causing dehydration and eventual death.
 Toxic substances from industries may contain dangerous metals like mercury and lead
enter rivers and lakes. When lead is consumed, it causes brain damage
 Fertilisers washed into water sources cause algal bloom. This is called eutrophication.
 Other substance from industries like mercury cause the problem of bioaccumulation.

What is Bioaccumulation

 Bioaccumulation occurs when toxins build up or accumulate in a food chain.

 It is when an organism ingests/eats a pollutant/toxin like mercury or other
chemicals.
 The concentration of the pollutant/toxin increases in the organism and
accumulates in its body.
 The organisms may absorb the contaminants directly from the water.
 The rate of excretion is slower than the rate of ingestion/absorption. OR the rate
of ingestion is greater than the rate of metabolism.
 When people consume fish with high concentration of mercury, it damages the
nervous system and reproductive system.

For example: Bioaccumulation of mercury in a food chain

 Toxins/Mercury from industry/pesticides is discharged into rivers/dams. The

mercury in water is consumed by small fish. The small fish is eaten by large
fish. Large fish is then eaten by predator fish. This is then eaten by humans
who will then have the highest concentration of the mercury in their bodies.

Measures to control water pollution

 Passing legislation on anti-pollution and enforcing them by law enforcers like

EMA
 There should be education of people on ways of reducing water pollution and
reducing it
 Treating water by filtering and chlorinating it
 Treating sewage waste before discharging it into the rivers
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 Banning farming near rivers

Suggest the challenges that are faced in implementing the measures. [3]

 Lack of money to buy the needed chemicals like chlorine

 Lack of technology to treat the sewage or the water
 Lack of co-operation by the industries and residents ( general resistance)
 Lack of government will to fund the water projects

Water is a valuable resource. As such, it needs to be conserved.

Ways to conserve water

 Building large water reservoirs like dams

 Water harvesting from rooftops and storing in tanks
 Recycling water for irrigation and cleaning purposes
 Educating people on tips to save water
 Use buckets to water gardens not hosepipes
 Practice water rationing especially in cities
 Watering gardens during the night not during daytime

Question: Explain how sinking of a new well can decrease disease, increase economic
output and improve the quality of life for everyone in rural areas in developing countries,
especially for the children and women.

 Dirty water is a major cause of water related diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid
 If people are sick, this reduces ability to work and produce so low production in
industries
 Many millions of people in developing countries are affected so low quality of life due
to illnesses
 This sickness is particularly severe for infants and elderly resulting in high death rates,
low life expectancy and poor quality of life
 If a new well is sunk, women can engage in other productive economic activities (not
fetching like crafts, textiles, taking vegetables to market etc.
 children are more healthy/have more time for education and study
 This more time greatly improves their future prospects/chances of employment

WATER RELATED DISEASES

 Many of these diseases related to water are mainly found in the Tropics i.e
between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
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 Hot climates provide ideal conditions for a greater number of insects, bacteria
and virus which are harmful to human health.

We can classify these diseases into two namely:

1. Water Bred diseases (malaria)

 This is a diseases caused by a carrier that breeds in water. Malaria is one

tropical disease caused by female anopheles mosquito

2. Water borne diseases ( cholera, typhoid, dysentery, diarrhoea)

 These are diseases that are spread by drinking contaminated water. Examples
are cholera, typhoid, dysentery, diarrhoea. They are contracted/caught by
washing food, pots, putting hands in contaminated water.

DISTRIBUTION OF MALARIA IN AFRICA

QSTN: Describe the distribution of malaria shown. [2]

 More at coasts/coastal
 None in deserts
 Mainly malaria in the tropics
 Small area down south below tropic if capricon
 Far south in South Africa and South of Botwana have none
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Qstn: Five ways of controlling water-related diseases are:

chlorination clean water supply drugs
improved sanitation vector eradication

(ii) State which two which would be best for controlling malaria

 drugs and vector eradication

(iii) Explain how one of them would reduce malaria.

EITHER drugs;

 Kill parasite in blood

 Which cause disease and symptoms
 This reduces the quantity or reservoir of parasite

OR vector eradication:

 Kills the vector/insect/organism

 That transmits the disease from one oerson to the other.

WATER BRED DISEASE: MALARIA

HOW IS MALARIA SPREAD?

 Mosquitoes ( vector) breed in stagnant fresh water: swampy areas, stagnant water
ponds especially in the wet, warm season
 Mosquitoes are mainly nocturnal
 The parasite that causes malaria is called plasmodium
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 Female anopheles mosquito bites an infected person

 Sucks up the parasite plasmodium
 Mosquito then bites the next uninfected person
 It injects plasmodium into the person
 The plasmodium goes straight to the liver where there are good conditions for
multiplication
 After about a fortnight the victim begins to feel feverish and becomes ill.

Signs and Symptoms

 High fever
 Vomiting
 Loss of appetite
 Loss of weight
 General body weakness
 Dehydration
 Subsequent death

Strategies/Ways of controlling spread of Malaria

 drain stagnant water from marshes or ponds to remove breeding sites of mosquitoes;
 vector eradication by spraying of insecticide/chemicals, to kill the mosquito(vector)
 sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent mosquito bites (vector
eradication)
 taking anti-malarial drugs like quinine or chloroquine to develop resistance to the
disease;
 wear clothes covering whole body to prevent mosquito biting;
 pour kerosene oil on water to suffocate the larvae, to stop breeding;
 use of fish, to eat larvae;
 curing the patient
 educating the people on ways of controlling malaria

Suggest reasons why it is difficult to control malaria in most developing countries/in

rural areas of most developing countries.

 remoteness of population (inaccessibility of some areas) meaning the people are far
away from clinic to seek treatment;
 lack of money for control methods like drugs or mosquito nets;
 lack of health care and unavailability of malarial drugs;
 lack of awareness amongst population about preventive and curative measures;
 resistance to antimalarial drugs;
 areas with lots of stagnant water present;
 religious beliefs like some apostolic sects who consider seeking medical attention a
sin.
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Water Borne diseases

 These are diseases that are spread by drinking contaminated water. Examples
are cholera, typhoid, dysentery, diarrhoea. They are contracted/caught by
washing food, pots, putting hands in contaminated water.
 It is common in Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia
 Cholera and malaria are some diseases that occur after natural disasters like
flooding, cyclones and earthquakes. This is due to lack of clean water supply
and poor sanitation that are experienced soon after these natural disasters

Causes of cholera.

 Drinking water that is contaminated with the bacteria that causes cholera
 Eating fruits that have been washed with contaminated water
 Unhygienic practices like eating contaminated food or open defecation

Qstn: Describe how cholera is spread from one person to another. [3]

 caused by bacteria / a bacterium called vibrio cholerae;

 person infected with bacterium;
 sewage from infected person leaks into water supply;
 water supply contaminated;
 people drink contaminated water and get sick

Signs and symptoms of Cholera

 Vomiting Running stomach Loss of appetite

 Loss of weight General body weakness Dehydration
 Subsequent death of victims

Strategies of controlling cholera

 Providing clean drinking water e.g bottled water

 Chlorinating water before drinking to kill bacteria
 Improving sanitation to prevent breeding of bacteria
 Boiling water to kill bacteria
 Washing hands using detergent after visiting the toilet
 Washing fruits under clean water before eating them

Qstn: Describe government strategies that can help people in rural areas have access to
safe drinking water. [5]

 provision of safe water by drilling boreholes or protected wells;

 connecting of pipes from rivers / urban areas to rural areas;
 provision of bottled water;
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 promotion of rainwater harvesting from rooftops and storing in tanks;

 water treatment / use of chlorinated water;
 sanitation systems / sewage treatment;
 education people regarding sanitation;
 fines / legislation, against water pollution;

Question: Malaria and cholera are examples of water-related diseases that cause disease
epidemics after natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, killing many people.
Choose one of these diseases.

(i) Describe how and why every year it causes many deaths. [5]

MALARIA:

 female (anopheles) mosquito is the vector (carrier) for malaria;

 breeds in stagnant water in swamps, ponds and lakes;
 bites people at night and sucks blood;
 when it bites a person whose blood contains the malaria parasite/plasmodium;
 it transfers the disease to next person it bites;
 thousands of tiny parasites pass through the person’s bloodstream to the human liver;
 where they multiply so that after about two weeks the person begins to feel ill with a
fever;
 they continue to multiply until people without immunity or drugs die;

CHOLERA

 people drink or eat contaminated water or food;

 it is an intestinal infection;
 which causes diarrhoea;
 leads to rapid dehydration and death if not treated;
 easily spreads from food touched by one contaminated person to another person;

Question: Why does the disease that you have chosen often occur after a natural
disaster, causing even greater numbers of deaths? Explain your answer. [4]

MALARIA:

 more likely after floods because of plentiful standing surface water;

 also possible after earthquakes from leaks from broken water pipes;
 more places for larva to pupate and increase the numbers of mosquitoes;
 floods may be in areas where it is not normally so wet that immunity levels in the local
population are lower than elsewhere;
 in the distribution in the aftermath of a disaster protection against/treatment of the
disease are likely to be less easy;

CHOLERA:
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 earthquakes cause broken water pipes so that fresh/clean water supplies are disrupted;
 can also break sewerage pipes leading to surface contamination/mixing with water
supply;
 water flooding everywhere washes away and carries sewerage from works and latrines,
 normal water supply may be contaminated with flood waters without people living further
away not realizing it;
 disruption in the aftermath of the disaster sometimes means people living close together
in emergency camps;
 makes it easy for the disease to spread from person to person;
 inadequate medical resources to treat it in time in the aftermath of the hazard;

END