Ch-4 Water and Its Management
Ch-4 Water and Its Management
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/science/environmental-science/
global-water-resources/content-section-0?active-tab=description-tab
Key syllabus terms
water cycle processes: precipitation, interception, surface runoff, infiltration, through-
flow,
groundwater flow, evaporation, transpiration, condensation
4.2 The Water Cycle
• Precipitation: moisture that reaches the surface in the
form of rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
o Rain is the most common type.
•Most of you will already be familiar with the basics of the water
cycle from KS3 Science and Geography, but it is important to
understand and be able to define all of the key terms on page 91.
Please note, this syllabus uses the terms evaporation and
transpiration (not evapotranspiration, so please do not use this in
your exam).
https://gpm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle
https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-
adv.html
Key syllabus terms
aquifer, well, reservoir, desalination plant
4.3 Water supply
• Surface water: water in lakes, rivers and swamps.
• Ground water: water in the soil, and in rocks under the
surface of the ground.
• Aquifers: water stored in porous rocks under the
ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ7bg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=0_ZcCqqpS2o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=8K6V450StO4
Key Points:
•Fresh water for human use can be extracted from rivers and lakes, groundwater
stores such as aquifers, or by treating salt water to make it potable.
•Water can be taken directly from rivers, but more commonly is stored in a
reservoir. If the reservoir stores water after treatment to make it potable, this is
called a service reservoir.
•Groundwater is stored in porous rocks (aquifers), which hold about 30% of global
fresh water supplies. Aquifers can be accessed through wells.
•Salt water can be made potable through desalinisation. This can be done through
distillation or reverse osmosis. Both processes uses a lot of energy and create by-
products to be disposed of.
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/saline-water-use-
united-states?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/artesian-
water-and-artesian-wells?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-
science_center_objects
Key syllabus terms
safe drinking water, water conflict
4.5 Water quality and availability
• Water-rich countries: countries with plentiful fresh
water supplies:
Try and keep count of how many times you turn on a tap today. Are you surprised at
how many times you do so?
But in some of the countries where WaterAid works, there is no water nearby. This photo was
taken in Mozambique and shows Catarina (right) with her granddaughters Lucrecia (11,
centre) and Ruth (9, left) on their way back from collecting dirty water from a river. Millions of
children around the world have to do this every day.
If you lived in a country like Mozambique like Lucrecia and Ruth, it might take you at least two hours a day
to collect water.
What else do you think they might be able to do in two hours? Perhaps playing with friends or doing
Carrying the heavy water containers on their heads can damage children’s necks and
spines and affect them for the rest of their lives.
How do you think it would feel to carry a bucket of water on your head?
This is Azmera, who is 13 and lives in Ethiopia. She’s on her way to collect water for her family. Can you
imagine drinking this water? How do you think it would effect you?
Every single day almost 900 children die of diseases caused by drinking water like this
(compare this figure to the population of your school).
Dirty water isn’t the only problem. This is Ras ZeSilas School in Ethiopia, Africa. Until
recently, these were the only toilets that the school had. The block on the left is for
female students and the one on the right is for teachers.
But these toilets served over 1,300 female students and 71 teachers. Do you think there
enough toilets for the staff and the pupils? Do you think these toilets would be clean and
safe to use?
WaterAid is a charity that works to transform these people’s lives. They raise funds to build wells and
install taps in poor communities in Africa and Asia.
The people are then able to start businesses, go to school and improve their health. It’s life changing
work!
14 year old Tekalign is an eighth grade student at Ras ZeSilas Primary School, Ethiopia, where
previously 2,500 pupils shared one tap. WaterAid has built 14 new taps to bring clean, safe water to
the school and Tekalign wanted to share a few words with us -
“We have had no water to wash with when we leave the toilet, and that exposed us to eye infections
and stomach diseases such as diarrhoea. Now all of that is going to be over. Now there are going to be
WaterAid doesn’t just build wells and taps. They also help people to build toilets!
A new water supply can easily become polluted and unsafe if the community does not have somewhere clean and
private to go to the loo. Imagine if your school had no toilets – would you want to come to school? Would your
teachers?
Poor sanitation leads to bad health. Bacteria, viruses and parasites found in human waste kill millions of people
every year.
This is Chooka, outside a brand new toilet block we built at her school in Zambia.
WaterAid also teaches people about good hygiene. Simple things like washing your hands after going to the loo or
before eating can make a big difference. In fact washing your hands with soap and water reduce the chances of
getting diarrhoea by nearly half!
The communities WaterAid work with help each other learn about good hygiene in lots of different ways. WaterAid
trains people to become hygiene educators who visit people in their homes, arrange meetings or put on plays to
spread hygiene messages.
WaterAid also works in schools to teach children these messages. Children often listen and learn better than adults.
They will also take what they have learnt home with them and teach their family and neighbours about the
importance of good hygiene. The girls pictured are from India, and are using brand new taps to wash their hands.
WaterAid has teams in 35 countries worldwide.
Is it surprising that people feel so happy when WaterAid works in their community?
It does not cost a great deal to make a big difference. Just £15 can help provide one person with access to safe water.
But having safe water doesn’t just mean that they can stay healthy. It also gives means that children have time to go to
school and parents have time to earn a living. Having water also means that communities can grow food to eat and to
sell, giving them an income and making them healthier.
Why not show our ‘World of water’ film, which gives an overview of WaterAid’s work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzRdJc-vPjM&index=1&list=PLc-oawSTlDS1PfrZZVSRDs4s1nPcVeaEM
Key Points:
•The most important factor affecting water availability is the amount of precipitation,
but other factors such as water quality, population density and economic development
are also important. Physical water scarcity means there is not enough water to meet
people’s needs. Economic water scarcity means water is available but there is not
enough money to extract, treat and transport it to people.
•Lack of water can lead to conflict and even war. This issue is likely to become worse
as global population and water demand rise but availability remains constant.
https://www.peacecorps.gov/stories/8-projects-bringing-safe-sustainable-water-
sources-communities-around-world/
Key syllabus terms
multi-purpose dam, environmental, economic, social, sustainability
4.6 Multipurpose dam projects
• Example: the Ramganga Dam, Uttarakhand,
India.
• Choice of site:
o High precipitation to provide sufficient water;
o Low temperature to prevent evaporation;
o Built on strong impermeable rock so water doesn’t
drain and has a good foundation;
o Built high up in order to have good potential for
hydro-electric power;
o Narrow, steep sided valley for economic reasons;
o Rivers and lakes nearby to provide water;
o Away from developed areas to reduce the risk of
pollution in reservoirs;
o Easily accessible;
o Maximizes water storage capacity.
• Sustainability of dams:
o Alternative for burning of fossil fuels as no greenhouse
gases are produced.
• Unsustainability of dams:
o Reservoir can become silted due to material carried
into it by rivers;
o Dam structure under a lot of pressure can deteriorate
and eventually fail;
o Have negative effects on the environment and fish
population.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8cCsUBYSkw
0680/22/M/J/10
0680/22/M/J/10
Key Points:
•Dam projects can have huge benefits (water supply, flood reduction, tourism, energy
production etc.) but often also have numerous costs (flooding and relocation, habitat loss,
changes to downstream water supply).
•Dam location depends on many factors. Requirements include a narrow river valley, high in
the valley for hydro-electric power, and low population density.
•The Ramganga River Dam, at Kalagarh, India, was completed in 1974. The area was chosen
because no farmland needed to be flooded or people relocated; forestry and plantation owners
were compensated. Since completion, flooding can be controlled, wildlife has increased, and
over 3,000 workers are employed. However, farmers say water supply can either be as floods
or drought, sediment supply has been affected and fish numbers have decreased.
https://blog.arcadia.com/pros-cons-dams/
https://sandrp.in/2014/11/11/ramganga-project-a-performance-review/
https://ibgeoturtle.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/case-study-three-gorges-
dam/
Key syllabus terms
sewage, industrial processes
4.7 Water pollution and its sources
• Sewage: waste matter that is rich in organic matter, thus microbial organisms can thrive
in it.
o It is usually disposed in water bodies, and thus has to be treated.
• Domestic waste: sewage from rural and urban settlements carry many pathogenic
micro-organisms, increasing the content of nitrates and phosphates in rivers.
o Detergents, metals and other manufactured products contain traces of toxic chemicals.
• Industrial processes: use of chemicals, the processing of metal ores, and the
leaching of metals from waste heaps and dumps cause the presence of metals in rivers (e.g.
manganese, mercury, copper).
o Gases from industrial chimneys enter the atmosphere, where they dissolve in water and form
acid rain.
•The main domestic waste is sewage. Sewage is rich in organic matter allowing
microbes, including bacteria, to thrive. It also uses up oxygen during decomposition
and therefore contributes to eutrophication (refer to Module 3.5). Sewage treatment
involves reducing the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of the sewage through
screening, settling, oxidation and sludge digestion. Improved sanitation separates
human excreta from contact with humans through the use of flushing toilets, pit
latrines or compost toilets. Water treatment aims to make water potable (drinkable)
through coagulation, filtering and disinfecting (chlorination).
•Industrial processes often lead to chemicals entering the water system, either
directly through outfalls into rivers and lakes, or via air pollution and then acid rain.
Some chemicals are immediately toxic, others can cause increased harm over time
through biomagnification, including heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, cadmium) and
pesticides. Acid rain occurs when SO2 and NOx gases from fossil fuel power stations
combine with water to form sulfuric and nitric acid. Acid rain damages plants (tree
dieback), building materials (particularly limestone), and aquatic ecosystems (lower
pH, malformed fish, leaching of heavy metals etc.) Acid rain can be reduced by
reducing SO and NO emissions through use of low sulfur fuels, sulfur scrubbers, and
•Agricultural pollutants are pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers.
Nutrients from fertilisers (as well as industrial and domestic sources),
such as nitrates and phosphates, can cause eutrophication, leading to
algal blooms. The increased organic matter leads to an increased BOD,
leading to fish and insect deaths.
•Malaria is best prevented by avoiding mosquito bites. Individuals can stay inside between
dusk and dawn, cover their bodies with clothing and insect repellent, and sleep under a
mosquito net coated in insecticide. Governments can control the mosquito vector by spraying
insecticide over larger areas, draining wetlands, introducing fish that eat mosquito larvae, and
pouring oil on water surfaces.
•The World Health Organization (WHO) encourages global eradication of malaria. Treatment
improvements have reduced the incidence of malaria and the death rate; however the
mosquito is evolving resistance.