CH # 4 WATER AND ITS MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 4 WATER AND ITS MANAGEMENT

The water cycle and water availability on Earth
Introduction
 Ocean cover 71 % of the Earth’s surface.
 Oceans and seas contain 97% of all the Earth’s water.
 Only 3 % of water on Earth is fresh water.
 Nearly 65% of this 3 % fresh water is in the deep freeze in ice sheets.
 Without water there would be no life on Earth.
 Fresh water is the main resource on Earth.
 Without fresh water there would be no plants or animals.
 It is critical to the operation of land ecosystems.
 There are only two major reserves where fresh water is stored, locked up in surface
ice sheets, and locked away underground in the spaces in permeable rocks.
 Water is used in three main sectors, domestic, industrial and agricultural.

Global freshwater stores

 Groundwater 25%
 Ice 74.5 %
 Atmosphere 0.04%
 Lakes 0.3%
 Rivers 0.03%
 Soil 0.06%

The water cycle

The water cycle system consists of inputs, stores, flows, transfers and outputs

Inputs: Precipitation is all the moisture that reaches the surface from atmosphere e.g. rainfall
and snowfall
Stores: surface stores such as oceans, seas, lakes and underground stores such as aquifers
Flows: rivers transport water from land to sea

Transfers: Surface water is evaporated and transfer to the atmosphere as water vapor
Output: Precipitation from the atmosphere as the cycle continues

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Basic terms
 Evaporation is changing of water from seas and water surfaces on land into water
vapors due to heat
 Transpiration. When water would be lost in the same way from plants and trees, it
would be called transpiration.
 Evapotranspiration is the loss from both plants and oceans.
 When water vapours are carried by air currents upwards to a great height above the
ground, they are cooled and the vapours change back to liquid. This processes is known
as condensation.
 When precipitation reaches the ground, some of it is stopped by plants and trees, this is
known as interception.
 Some of it flows over the ground surface and finds its ways to the rivers. This is known
as run-off.
 Infiltration is the process by which water enters the soil from the ground.
 Ground water flows is the water that enters the soil and seeps into underground
streams and flows there.
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Effects of vegetation cover on the water cycle

i. Area of dense vegetation
 Interception ,evapotranspiration and infiltration rates are high
 Surface run off rate is low as rainwater delayed stopped from reaching ground surface
by trees.
ii. Vegetation cleared and replaced by farming
 Interception, evapotranspiration and infiltration processes decrease.
 Run off process increases.
Water Supply
One quarter of fresh water stored underground, not all of this is accessible for human use. Some of
best sites for water supply are above aquifers, places where favorable geological conditionshave
concentrated underground water in one place within reach from the surface.

EXAMPLE: Oil Rich Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE & Kuwait set up desalination plants where
salt is separated and water is made fresh.
Process of Desalination
Reverse Osmosis
 Sea water is pumped from the ocean
 It is forced at high pressure through semi permeable membranes
 These block the passage of salt and minerals
 Only fresh water flows through the membranes
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Surface water supplies and transfers

 These water stores are mostly available in mountainous regions as precipitation is high,
ice melts in summer to release fresh water and many lakes are found at the bottom of
the mountain valleys.
 Many lakes are found at the bottom of steep sided mountains, often carved out by
glaciers in earlier times
 The big problem is that few people live in mountainous areas where water availability is
greatest.
 Fortunately, rivers provide surface transfers of water to lowland areas where farms,
villages towns and cities are concentrated
 World’s most densely populated areas are along the bank of big rivers.
 The cost of building pipelines and pumping stations to move water over long distances could
not be justified
 Population and levels of economic activities have grown so fast.
 In Pakistan, River Indus is a managed river.
 Dams such as Tarbela Dam are built in mountains along the Indus and its four major
tributaries.
 Barrages in lowland hold back the water flow so that it can be distributed to irrigation canals
and people in cities.

Variations in the amount of water use

1. Domestic 10%
2. Industrial 20%
3. Agriculture 70%

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 Average water use per head in the world is very unequal

 Farming is still the main activity within the continents of Africa and Asia (Subsistence Farming)
 In dry countries land can be reclaimed from the desert as in Egypt (water from Aswan High Dam) & in
Southern Pakistan (water from Indus River)
 Water supply used in factories and industries is noticeably higher in Europe and North America
 Considerable amount is used in industrial processes for cooling, for mixing products like dyes
and paints in chemical works and for bathing and canning in food and drink industries. 

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Per capita total annual renewable water resources (TARWR) by country—population data from 2009

Water quality and availability

 Precipitation varies greatly from place to place
 Many of the world’s driest and wettest places are found in tropical latitudes
 Desserts are tend to be located on the northern and southern edges of the tropics as well as in
the interior of continents
 Water rich countries are countries with plentiful fresh water supplies
 Water poor countries are the ones most likely to suffer from water stress( worries over present
and future water supplies)

Differences in water availability within countries

 Not only are there differences in water availability between countries, but there can be equally
large variations in water quality and access to clean water between different parts of the same
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country. The biggest difference is between urban and rural areas

Why access to safe water is higher in Urban areas

 Cities are more wealthy places with factories and offices
 Easier to put pressure on the politicians to make improvements
 Water pipelines are easier and cheaper to build when a lot of people live closer together
 There are more modern houses as wealthy people are more likely to live in cities
 On average, people’s incomes are higher to pay water charges

Potential for conflicts between countries

 
Fresh water supply is a growing international issue
 Water insecurity is greatly in Middle East due to the region’s dry climate and growing water
needs
 Surface rivers are few
 This is an area of political instability with massive population movements and refugee flows
between countries
 One the oldest international water sharing treaties was signed by Pakistan and India in 1960,
which is known as Indus Water treaty.
 The Nile flows through nine other countries before it reaches Egypt.
 Sudan and Ethiopia have their own desert areas and increasing populations .They demanded a
fair share of Nile water
 Egypt realized that it needed to cooperate instead of complaining and making threats about what
action it would take less Nile water reached Egypt
 This is why the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was set up in 1999 with the aim of coordinating new
dam developments along the Nile.

Multi-purpose dam projects how sustainable are they?

Advantages
 Stops valley flooding
 Electricity production
 Water widely available for agriculture
 Environmental friendly
 Job opportunities

Disadvantages
 People forced to move from homes
 Destruction of natural environment
 Increase risk of earthquakes and landslide
 Destruction of various ecosystems and animal habitats.
 Expensive to build

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Policy Recommendations for building Dams

 Environmental survey of costs and benefits
 Discuss relocation and compensation with local people
 Investigate alternatives sites to discover whether building more but smaller dams will give
similar advantages
 Cooperate with other countries where river flow across national boundaries
Water pollution and its sources
 River water quality can undergo major changes due to different human activities
 Along rivers which flow through well populated areas, water can be taken from them several
times and used for agricultural, domestic, and industrial purpose, before being returned back
into the rivers

Main causes of water pollution

 Agricultural reasons such as surplus fertilizers, use of pesticides and insecticides, herbicides
 Domestic waste such as garbage from homes 
 Waste from industries and nuclear power stations such as radioactive isotopes

Impact of water pollution

 Water pollution has consequences for both people and the environment
 Toxic substances from industry and agriculture entering lakes and rivers are poisonous
 Some quickly break down in the environment into harmless substances, but other do
not
 They accumulate in the food chain as they pass through the food chain, they affect
and damage all the organisms in it. Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of
such pesticides or other chemicals or metals in an organism. It occurs when an
organism absorbs a toxic substance at a faster rate than it can be broken down or
excreted.
 Fertilizers wash way into the rivers and give rise to eutrophication and pesticides
contain toxic materials that are harmful to human health.
 Pollutants carried in untreated sewage can cause infectious water borne diseases such
as typhoid, cholera, dysentery and diarrheas leading to dehydration and eventually
death
 Radioactive isotopes cause mutation in human cells.

Managing pollution and improving water quality

 Improve sanitation
 Treatment of sewage
 Water conservation and more efficient use
 Pollution control and legislation
 Greater clear water supply e.g. desalination
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 Eutrophication can be reversed by regulating industrial, agricultural and domestic

discharges of phosphorous and nitrogen.
 Creating awareness among people
 Educated public about conservation and environment.
Managing water related diseases
 Many of the diseases that people catch in the tropics are associated with water.
 Hot, wet climates provide ideal environments for great number of insects, bacteria, and
viruses which are harmful to human health.
 There are three main types of environmental disease related to water.
(a) Water –based : The carrier lives in water
(b) Water-borne: These diseases are spread by drinking contaminated water.
(c) Water-bred: The carrier breeds in water and spreads disease by biting its victims

MALARIA A WATER_BRED DISEASE

 The female anopheles mosquito is the vector (carrier) for malaria.(Only the female
drink blood, the males are vegetarians)
 Mosquitoes breed in stagnant fresh water in swamps, ponds and lakes.
 The female mosquito bite and suck blood at night.to transfer the disease, the
mosquito must bite a person whose blood already contains the malaria parasite.
 When the next person is bitten, the mosquito injects her saliva into the bloodstream.
 Here they multiply.
 After about a fortnight, the sufferer begins to feel very feverish and very ill. 

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PLASMODIUM (causative agent of malaria)

 Plasmodium Vivax
 Plasmodium Malariae
 Plasmodium falciparum (most violent)

One policy was to drain the Marshes; unfortunately this took away many of the world’s natural
wetlands and resulted in the disappearance of diverse range of plants and animals
The second was to use DDT, a long lasting pesticide; unfortunately DDT killed much else too, including
the insects upon which the birds fed. Its use is banned in most developed countries.

Symptoms of water related diseases

 High temperature and fever
 Diarrhea, dehydration
 Feeling very weak and unwell

Strategies for control of malaria

 Prophylactic drugs (drugs taken to prevent malaria being caught) such as chloroquine no longer
work in many places. Newer drug such as larium are stronger but they come with side effects.
 Government and international health programs target malaria but any improvements made are
lost once the campaign end
 Medical programs collapse when political unrest or wars break out

 It is matter of prevention and cure.

 Destroy breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
 Take personal precautions such as sleeping under a mosquito net.
 Use of vaccines.

CHOLERA A WATER BORNE DISEASE

 It is an intestinal infection that can cause severe diarrhea, which may lead to
dehydration and eventually death.
 It is caught from the consumption of contaminated water and food contaminated with
the bacterium vibrio cholera.
 It is problem in areas of poor sanitation in South America, Africa and Asia.
Strategies for control of Cholera
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 Instructing people to boil water before drinking

 Water should be treated in water treatment plants before drinking.
 Sanitation system should be improved.

Past Papers Questions

Q. Why the amount of water available for human use?
Ans. 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.

Q. Why are decisions to build large dames often controversial?

Ans. Examples of objections that might be used: Economic – high costs, places the
country in debt/need to borrow from rich countries, diverts spending away from other
areas/projects.
Social – people often displaced from best land on valley floors, family disruption/loss of
communities and traditions, not always as well compensated as promised, moved on to
inferior land.
Environmental – clearances of forests/vegetation, loss of habitats, disruption of river
flown ecosystems below the dam.

Q. State uses are most likely to lead to pollution of river water

Ans. Explanation such as untreated waste, litter and toxic materials disposed of,
oil/diesel from ships’ engines or cleaning out of tanks, or disposal of waste over the
sides. Otheruses can be credited for explanation provided that candidates show how
they lead to water pollution e.g. washing out nitrates/pesticides related to irrigation water
for crops,and untreated sewage for domestic uses.

Q. Explain some conflicts of interest can arise between people using rivers for
different purposes.
Ans. Possible conflicts that candidates might refer to:
– waste disposal upstream then use of water for drinking/recreation downstream
– shipping is often densest in most populated river sections
– irrigation water is taken out of the river so that not enough is left downstream for all
the other users

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Q. Explain how water from the sea may return to the sea
Ans. water evaporated from the sea
Condensation (produces cloud/water droplets) water droplets join to form raindrops
drops fall when heavy enough run-off in rivers/over surface to the sea gravity
Infiltrates through soils/percolates through rocks to sea through pore spaces/cracks

Q. Why some rural areas of the developing world are suffering from a shortage of
groundwater from wells and boreholes.
Ans. increasing population uses greater amounts of water more taken out than can be
replenished by rainfall more droughts/less rain global warming/higher temperatures
because more evaporation therefore less water infiltrates to become groundwater
extraction for mines/industries/agriculture etc.

Q. Suggest why a full exploitation of the resources of the open oceans is unlikely.
Ans. Water depth/ pressure, distance from shore for supplies / high transport costs,
weather problems such as cold / storms / strong winds, at or beyond the limits of
knowntechnology, Overall expense compared with obtaining resources on land.
Q. In all malarial areas, the number of cases can vary from year to year, why?
Ans. Weather / climate variations with more cases in wetter years / fewer in drier years,
related to extent of areas of surface water available for breeding, human factors such as
increasing precautions such as sleeping under nets, new net treated with insecticides,
spraying in and around homes, govt. programs to spray or drain breeding grounds,
more use of anti- malarial drugs.

Q. Why African countries have outbreaks of cholera from time to time?

Ans. lack of sanitation means that rivers / lakes are contaminated with dirty water,
Cholera is a water-borne disease, caught by people drinking / washing etc. in
contaminated water, disease easily spreads causing epidemics, often associated with
aftermath of natural / human disasters, absence of medical facilities to control its spread
Q. Describe how the increased concentration of nitrates and phosphates can
change the plant and animal populations in a river.

Ans. Eutrophication, algal bloom, block light to other plants, algae die, plant die,
bacteria / microbes feed on dead organic matter, bacteria increase in numbers, use up
oxygen.

Q. How a high salt concentration can kill plant?

Ans. Osmosis draws water out of roots or water cannot enter roots

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