Water Resources

How can areas without adequate fresh water become habitable?

1. Water management projects have diverted water to the area. 2. Extract water from air (billboard)

List effective methods to prevent future shortages of usable water.

1. emphasizing the additive effect of individual attempts to conserve water. 2. reducing the pollution of existing water sources by education and enforcement. 3. developing and refining new ways to produce fresh water such as desalination.

How is fresh water used in industry?

1. manufacturing processes 2. the disposal of waste products 3. to generate power

What are benefits and detriments to building a dam?

Benefits: reliable source of water for human use; maintaining flood control, generating electricity Detriments: destruction of ecosystems; decrease in the availability of water downstream, displacement of people who live in the footprint of the resulting reservoir

Explain why many people still have difficulty getting enough water for drinking, cooking, and irrigation of crops.

Fresh water is not evenly distributed across Earth's surface. Some places have floods, while other are experiencing a drought. In addition, some sources easily available , such as aquifer, are being depleted, and other water supplies ar polluted.

Give examples of how water is used in each of the following: homes, industry, and agriculture.

Home: showering, cooking, cleaning, drinking, yards Industry: manufacturing, transportation, waste disposal, Agriculture: irrigation.

Where is most of Earth's fresh water located?

It is located in a solid state at the poles.

What percent of Earth's fresh water is surface water?

Less than one percent

What is the largest watershed in the U.S.?

Mississippi River Watershed

This aquifer supplies about one third of all the groundwater used in the U.S.

Ogallala

Desalination is an expensive method to obtain fresh water. Explain why some countries use this method.

Some countries, especially those in the Middle East, do not have enough fresh water to support their population. These countries are forced to use this expensive method to meet the fresh water demands of the population.

Where do most household and industries get their water.

Surface water ( rivers and lakes)

Describe the relationship between groundwater and surface water.

Surface water percolates through the soil to form groundwater.

Why is water in an aquifer difficult to purify?

The water in an aquifer is difficult to access because the water is stored in the spaces between rocks and grains of sand.

What is the least expensive way to ensure there is more fresh water to use?

Water Conservation

If water in an aquifer is pumped out faster than it is replenished, the water table drops. How can this affect the humans and animals that depend on this water source?

Water wells may become dry and people will lose their supply of fresh water. Farmers may not have the water needed to irrigate their crops. People may not have enough food or income to support their families. Animals that live in wetland created by the aquifer will lose their habitat. Several species of wildlife might die or have to move to another location.

Considering how much fresh water is used everyday, why don't we run out of water?

We don't run out of water because water is a renewable resource that is continually recycles. Water that is used ends up in surface water where it evaporates and returns to Earth as precipitation.

Silt and other suspended solids are washed from areas of erosion into rivers and streams, where they can cause the water to become thick and murky. Could this affect the productivity of aquatic plants? Explain your answer.

Yes. Less sunlight is able to filter through thick murky (turbid) water, decreasing photosynthesis and thereby reducing productivity in aquatic plants.

An uderground rock formation that holds water is an ____________________________

aquifer

A process that removes the salt from salt water to make freshwater is called ______________

desalination.

Be able to list / identify point source pollution.

factory dumping, sewer running directly into river, leaking oil tanker, landfill run off

A method of providing plants with water from sources other than precipitation is known as _______

irrigation.

List the 3 types of surface water.

lakes rivers streams

The ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it is called _________________

permeability.

The amount of space between the particles that make up a rock determines a rock's ____

porosity.

An area of land through which water percolates to be stored as groundwater is known as ___________________________

recharge zone.

Be able to list several ways a person can conserve water.

take shorter showers, only do full loads of laundry, water your yard at night, use low flow shower heads, use low volume flush toilets, etc.

What is the purpose of adding chlorine to water during the water treatment process?

to kill bacteria that have accumulated, as well as prevent future bacterial growth

The continuous movement of water between Earth and its atmosphere is the __________________

water cycle

A large area of land that is drained by a river is known as a ________________

water shed.

A hole that is dug or drilled to reach groundwater is called a _____________

well.

A landscaping method that involves designing a landscape that uses minimal water is know as

xeriscaping