Uxukbayeva Inkar

-WATER IN A HUMAN LIFE

-WATER AS A SOLVENT
-POLLUTION OF WATER
-PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER
-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER
WATER IN A HUMAN LIFE

Water helps regulate pH balance in your body. Water is neutral
- neither acidic, or low pH, nor basic, or high pH. The
concentration of hydrogen in the body creates an acidic or basic
level in your blood and organs. Water allows free hydrogen ions
to move in and out of blood, cells and water to maintain the pH
of your body, which is around 7.4.
Water provides the medium for electrolytes to circulate
throughout your body. Electrolytes are the minerals sodium,
potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium. These
electrolytes provide transportation of glucose and amino
acids in and out of cells. Each electrolyte is balanced by
another of equal but opposite charge to manage the flow of
nutrients to cells and waste from cells.
Water has a chemical property that makes it able to absorb and
release heat to maintain the temperature of the environment it
is in. Your body temperature must be maintained within a very
narrow range, and water removes excessive heat from the body
through evaporation of sweat. You can lose up to a pint of
water through sweat.
Water is in celery, lettuce and other vegetables. Meats such as
chicken, beef and fish can contain up to one-half to two-thirds
of their weight in water. Milk and juices also contain water. The
water in all these foods counts towards your daily fluid intake.
Water as a solvent

Water is also a good solvent due to its polarity. The solvent properties of
water are vital in biology, because many biochemical reactions take place
only within aqueous solutions (e.g., reactions in the cytoplasm and blood). In
addition, water is used to transport biological molecules.

When an ionic or polar compound enters water, it is surrounded by water
molecules. The relatively small size of water molecules typically allows many
water molecules to surround one molecule of solute. The partially negative
dipoles of the water are attracted to positively charged components of the
solute, and vice versa for the positive dipoles.

In general, ionic and polar substances such as acids, alcohols, and salts are
easily soluble in water, and nonpolar substances such as fats and oils are
not. Nonpolar molecules stay together in water because it is energetically
more favorable for the water molecules to hydrogen bond to each other than
to engage in van der Waals interactions with nonpolar molecules.

An example of an ionic solute is table salt; the sodium chloride, NaCl,
separates into Na+ cations and Cl- anions, each being surrounded by water
molecules. The ions are then easily transported away from their crystalline
lattice into solution. An example of a nonionic solute is table sugar. The
water dipoles hydrogen bond to the dipolar regions of the sugar molecule
and allow it to be carried away into solution.
Important natural sources are surface run-off, seepage from ground
water and swamp drainage. In urban areas, rain water is reported to be
acidic. This is due to reaction between water droplets and atmospheric
oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. The atmospheric sulphur dioxide (S02)
is always accompanied by a little amount of sulphur tri-oxide (S03)
which, under humid condition, reacts with water vapour to form
sulphuric acid thus causing acid rain. The chemical reaction involved in
this process is represented as follows:

Leachates from animal excreta, decaying bodies of animals and plants,
solid waste landfill sites and the decay of large quantities of organic
matter in swamps or deep ponds also introduce appreciable amounts
of soluble organics and microorganisms which in turn contaminate the
adjacent ground water.

Anthropogenic sources are the result of industrial, domestic,
agricultural and mining activities of man.

Nowadays, industries are the major contributors of water
pollution. Water is an essential raw material in almost all
manufacturing plants. In India, industries such as tanneries,
sugar mills, pulp and paper mills, distilleries, oil refineries, etc.
generate a large quantity of wastewater which is discharged
into natural waterways either without treatment or after partial
treatment. The characteristics of industrial wastewater depend
primarily on the type of industry and the chemicals used in
various processes.

In urban areas, municipal sewage is discharged into the nearby
canal, thus polluting the canal and also deteriorating the
ground water. Municipal sewage includes wastewater from
houses, commercial buildings and institutions. The important
pollutants present are biodegradable organic matter, coliforms
and pathogens.

Pollutants discharged into water courses due to agricultural activities
include:

1. Soil and silt removed by erosion
2. Agricultural run-off
3. Synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides
4. Plant residue.

Receiving water bodies get fertilised with nutrients, thus resulting in
Eutrophication. Some common insecticides in use are chlorinated
hydrocarbons such as DDT (dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane), aldrin,
heptachlor, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) etc. Most of the
chlorinated hydrocarbons are persistent to degradation and hence
remain in the environment for a very long time. Indiscriminate use of
insecticides could make them an integral part of the biological,
geological and chemical cycles of the earth. Measurable quantities of
DDT residues may be found in air, soil and water several thousand
kilometres away from the point where it originally entered the
ecosystem.

Natural or man-made geochemical alterations are also sources
of wastewater pollution. Fines from ore washings disposed off
in water suspension may be transferred to the natural water
bodies to pollute them in due course. Mining operation also
produces soluble toxic materials depending on the geological
formation. Acid drainage from coal mines and arsenic residue
from gold mines are some of the burning problems of
environmental concern.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER
1. Pure water is colorless, odorless and tasteless liquid.
2. Pure water freezes atomic 0C and boils atomic 100C under
1 atm pressure.
3. Water is a non-conductor of electricity and heat.
4. The density of water is maximum atomic 4C. The density
of the water atomic 4C is 1g/ml.
5. Water is neutral to litmus, i.e., it has been no effect only the
color of litmus.
6. Water dissolves a wide variety of substances.

Water does not dissociate easily and hence, is an excellent
solvent. It is also so because of its H-bonding capabilities and
very high dielectric constant. Thus, it acts like a electrostatically
charged buffer that screens out charges and contributes to its
extensive solvent power.

Although water is a stable compound it can dissociate
occasionally and is also able to enhance the dissociation of
other substances called electrolytes.

It is rather surprising to learn that among substances which
ionise in water is water itself, through to a very slight extent
(about one in 550 million molecules). Thus, water can act as a
reagent and does take part in many biochemical reactions
within cells, but not in the uncontrolled manner of an unstable
compound.