WATER

Water common name applied to the liquid state of the hydrogen-oxygen compound H2O. The ancient philosophers regarded water as a basic element typifying all liquid substances. Scientists did not discard that iew until the latter half of the !"th century. #n !$"! the %ritish chemist Henry &a endish synthesi'ed water by detonating a mixture of hydrogen and air. Howe er( the results of his experiments were not clearly interpreted until two years later( when the )rench chemist *ntoine +aurent +a oisier proposed that water was not an element but a compound of oxygen and hydrogen. #n a scientific paper presented in !",-( the )rench chemist .oseph +ouis /ay-+ussac and the /erman naturalist *lexander on Humboldt demonstrated 0ointly that water consisted of two olumes of hydrogen to one of oxygen( as expressed by the present-day formula H2O.

OCCURENCE
Water is the only substance that occurs at ordinary temperatures in all three states of matter( that is( as a solid( a liquid( and a gas. *s a solid( or ice( it is found as glaciers and ice caps( on water surfaces in winter( as snow( hail( and frost( and as clouds formed of ice crystals. #t occurs in the liquid state as rain clouds formed of water droplets( and on egetation as dew1 in addition( it co ers three-quarters of the surface of the 2arth in the form of swamps( la3es( ri ers( and oceans. *s gas( or water apour( it occurs as fog( steam( and clouds. *tmospheric apour is measured in terms of relati e humidity( which is the ratio of the quantity of apour actually present to the greatest amount possible at a gi en temperature. See *tmosphere. Water occurs as moisture in the upper portion of the soil profile( in which it is held by capillary action to the particles of soil. #n this state( it is called bound water and has different characteristics from free water 4See Soil 5anagement6. 7nder the influence of gra ity( water accumulates in roc3 interstices beneath the surface of the 2arth as a ast groundwater reser oir supplying wells and springs and sustaining the flow of some streams during periods of drought.

IMPORTANCE
Water is the ma0or constitutent of li ing matter. )rom 8, to 9, per cent of the weight of li ing organisms is water. :rotoplasm( the basic material of li ing cells( consists of a solution in water of fats( carbohydrates( proteins( salts( and similar chemicals. Water acts as a sol ent( transporting( combining( and chemically brea3ing down these substances. %lood in animals and sap in plants consist largely of water and ser e to transport food and remo e waste material. Water also plays a 3ey role in the metabolic brea3down of such essential molecules as proteins and carbohydrates. This process( called hydrolysis( goes on continually in li ing cells.

WATER CYCLE
Hydrology is the science concerned with the distribution of water on the 2arth( its physical and chemical reactions with other naturally occurring substances( and its relation

to life on 2arth1 the continuous mo ement of water between the 2arth and the atmosphere is 3nown as the hydrological cycle. 7nder se eral influences( of which heat is predominant( water is e aporated from both water and land surfaces and is transpired from li ing cells. This apour circulates through the atmosphere and is precipitated in the form of rain or snow. See 5eteorology. On stri3ing the surface of the 2arth( the water follows two paths. #n amounts determined by the intensity of the rain and the porosity( permeability( thic3ness( and pre ious moisture content of the soil( one part of the water( termed surface run-off( flows directly into rills and streams and thence into oceans or landloc3ed bodies of water1 the remainder infiltrates into the soil. * part of the infiltrated water becomes soil moisture( which may be e aporated directly or may mo e upwards through the roots of egetation to be transpired from lea es. The portion of the water that o ercomes the forces of cohesion and adhesion in the soil profile percolates downwards( accumulating in the so-called 'one of saturation to form the groundwater reser oir( the surface of which is 3nown as the water table. 7nder natural conditions( the water table rises intermittently in response to replenishment( or recharge( and then declines as a result of continuous drainage into natural outlets such as springs.

WATER PURIFICATION
Suspended and dissol ed impurities present in naturally occurring water ma3e it unsuitable for many purposes. Ob0ectionable organic and inorganic materials are remo ed by such methods as screening and sedimentation to eliminate suspended materials1 treatment with such compounds as acti ated carbon to remo e tastes and odours1 filtration1 and chlorination or irradiation to 3ill infecti e micro-organisms. See also Sewage ;isposal. #n aeration( or the saturation of water with air( water is brought into contact with air in such a manner as to produce maximum diffusion( usually by spraying water into the air in fountains. *eration remo es odours and taste caused by decomposing organic matter( and also industrial wastes such as phenols and olatile gases such as chlorine. #t also con erts dissol ed iron and manganese compounds into insoluble hydrated oxides of the metals which may then be readily settled out. Hardness of natural waters is caused largely by calcium and magnesium salts and to a small extent by iron( aluminium( and other metals. Hardness resulting from the bicarbonates and carbonates of calcium and magnesium is called temporary hardness and can be remo ed by boiling( which also sterili'es the water. The residual hardness is 3nown as noncarbonate( or permanent( hardness. The methods of softening noncarbonate hardness include the addition of sodium carbonate and lime and filtration through natural or artificial 'eolites which absorb the hardness-producing metallic ions and release sodium ions to the water. See #on 2xchange. Sequestering agents in detergents ser e to render the substances that ma3e water hard inacti e.

#ron( which causes an unpleasant taste in drin3ing water( may be remo ed by aeration and sedimentation or by passing the water through iron-remo ing 'eolite filters( or the iron may be stabili'ed by addition of such salts as polyphosphates. )or use in laboratory applications( water is either distilled or deminerali'ed by passing it through ion-absorbing compounds.

WATER POLLUTANTS
The ma0or pollutants of water are the following< = Sewage and other oxygen-demanding wastes 4largely carbonaceous organic material( the decomposition of which leads to oxygen depletion6. = #nfectious agents. = :lant nutrients that can stimulate the growth of aquatic plants( which then interfere with water uses and( when decaying( deplete the dissol ed oxygen and produce disagreeable odours. = 2xotic organic chemicals( including pesticides( arious industrial products( surfaceacti e substances in detergents( and the decomposition products of other organic compounds. = :etroleum( especially from oil spills. = #norganic minerals and chemical compounds. = Sediments consisting of soil and mineral particles washed by storms and floodwater from croplands( unprotected soils( mine wor3ings( roads( and bulldo'ed urban areas. = >adioacti e substances from the wastes of uranium and thorium mining and refining( from nuclear power plants( and from the industrial( medical( and scientific use of radioacti e materials. Heat may also be considered a pollutant when increased temperatures in bodies of water result from the discharge of cooling water by factories and power plants.

EFFECTS OF POLLUTION
?otable effects of water pollution include those in ol ed in human health. ?itrates 4the salts of nitric acid6 in drin3ing water can cause a disease in infants that sometimes results in death. &admium in sludge-deri ed fertili'er can be absorbed by crops1 if ingested in sufficient amounts( the metal can cause an acute diarrhoeal disorder and li er and 3idney damage. The ha'ardous nature of inorganic substances such as mercury( arsenic( and lead has long been 3nown or strongly suspected. +a3es are especially ulnerable to pollution. One problem( eutrophication( occurs when la3e water becomes artificially enriched with nutrients( causing abnormal plant growth. >un-off of chemical fertili'er from culti ated fields may trigger this. The process of eutrophication can produce aesthetic problems such as bad tastes and odours and unsightly green scums of algae( as well as dense growth of rooted plants( oxygen depletion in the deeper waters and bottom sediments of la3es( and other chemical changes such as precipitation of calcium carbonate in hard waters. *nother problem( of growing concern in recent years( is acid rain( which has left many la3es in northern and eastern 2urope and north-eastern ?orth *merica totally de oid of life.

SOURCES OF POLLUTION
The ma0or sources of water pollution can be classified as municipal( industrial( and agricultural.5unicipal water pollution consists of wastewater from homes and commercial establishments. )or many years( the main goal of municipal sewage disposal was simply to reduce its content of suspended solids( oxygen-demanding materials( dissol ed inorganic compounds 4particularly compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen6( and harmful bacteria. #n recent years( howe er( more stress has been placed on impro ing the means of disposal of the solid residues from municipal treatment processes. The basic methods of treating municipal wastewater fall into three stages< primary treatment( including grit remo al( screening( grinding( flocculation 4aggregation of the solids6( and sedimentation1 secondary treatment( which entails oxidation of dissol ed organic matter by means of biologically acti e sludge( which is then filtered off1 and tertiary treatment( in which ad anced biological methods of nitrogen remo al and chemical and physical methods such as granular filtration and acti ated carbon adsorption are employed. The handling and disposal of solid residues can account for 28 to 8, per cent of the capital and operational costs of a treatment plant. The characteristics of industrial wastewaters can differ mar3edly both within and among industries. The impact of industrial discharges depends not only on their collecti e characteristics( such as biochemical oxygen demand and the amount of suspended solids( but also on their content of specific inorganic and organic substances. Three options 4which are not mutually exclusi e6 are a ailable in controlling industrial wastewater. &ontrol can ta3e place at the point of generation within the plant1 wastewater can be pretreated for discharge to municipal treatment systems1 or wastewater can be treated completely at the plant and either reused or discharged directly into recei ing waters. *griculture( including commercial li estoc3 and poultry farming( is the source of many organic and inorganic pollutants in surface waters and groundwater. These contaminants include both sediment from the erosion of cropland and compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen that partly originate in animal wastes and commercial fertili'ers. *nimal wastes are high in oxygen-demanding material( nitrogen( and phosphorus( and they often harbour pathogenic organisms. Wastes from commercial feeders are contained and disposed of on land1 their main threat to natural waters( therefore( is ia run-off and leaching. &ontrol may in ol e settling basins for liquids( limited biological treatment in aerobic or anaerobic lagoons( and a ariety of other methods. Causes The tectonic plates that ma3e up the 2arth@s crust are always mo ing( and are the cause of earthqua3es. One plate sometimes stic3s against another and often this puts such a great strain on the roc3s that they bend. The roc3s may also split( forming a fault. Suddenly the two plates 0er3 apart. This usually happens along a fault. *s the plates slip apart( the land abo e shudders and sha3es and it is these 0er3y mo ements of the 2arth@s crust that are called shoc3s or tremors. #n some ways an earthqua3e is rather li3e a drawer that does not slide smoothly on its runners. :ulling the drawer hard seems to ha e no effect until suddenly the drawer gi es way with a thump. #t may e en scatter the things inside.