Chapter 4: Sustainable management of water Flashcards
What do people use water for?
Domestic (moping the house, washing dishes, etc.)
Recreation (swimming, surfing, white water sports, diving, boating and fishing.)
Agriculture (farming)
Industry
How can water be managed sustainably?
Improve water quality
Reduce water consumption
Improve water technologies
Import water
The amount of precipitation that an area receives will determine how much water is available. This may result in…
Flood or droughts.
Define flood.
An overflow of a large amount of water onto what is normally dry land.
Common types of floods:
Flash floods and river floods.
What is a flash flood?
They are caused by exceptional heavy rainfall over a short period of time. These floods often occur in dry areas where there is not enough soil or vegetation to allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground. Therefore, most of the water that falls onto the ground becomes surface runoff which quickly floods low-lying areas.
What are river floods?
They are typically caused by sustained heavy rainfall, or meltwater produced when snow and ice start to melt in spring. The large amount of rainwater and meltwater enters streams and tributaries, which then flows to rivers. The water level in the river rises rapidly and eventually overflows the banks, flooding the surrounding areas.
What’s a drought?
An area that receives very little rain over a long period of time. Thus, there is too little rainwater to replenish the river. The water level in the river drops gradually until it eventually runs dry.
How does water support river ecosystems?
Precipitation provides a regular supply of water to rivers so that organisms can live in them. Basically, water supports the river ecosystem, which refers to the community of plants and animals found in rivers that interact with one another.
Aquatic ecosystem food chain
Phytoplankton(obtains energy from sunlight through photosynthesis and releases oxygen into the water) is eaten by zooplankton which is eaten by insects which is eaten by fish which is eaten by humans. 👍
How is water used for industry?
Water is used to cool equipment in factories and power plants because they generate a lot of heat when they operate. Water is also used to generate electricity when it passes through turbines installed dams. Moreover, water is used as a cleaning agent in water fabrication, which is the process of creating components for the electricity circuitry found in computers and mobile phones.
How does water pollution occur?
Human activities (throwing rubbish into drains, etc.)
Harmful substances that enter water bodies and cause water quality to fall, reducing the amount of water that can be used.
Pollutants like pesticides and lead.
How does water pollution impact aquatic ecosystems?
Pollutants kill plants and poison animals that feed on them.
Excess fertiliser from farms that get washed into the rivers by rain provides additional nutrients for algae to grow rapidly. When the algae eventually dies, they are decomposed by bacteria, which take in oxygen during the process. As a result, less oxygen remains in the water, causing fish and other aquatic animals to die.
How do countries improve water quality?
E.g. under Singapore’s Environmental Protection and Management Regulations, industries are not allowed to release wastewater into water bodies without permission from the National Environmental Agency.
The government implemented a revised version of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law. Officials who achieve clean water standards are rewarded, while those who do not meet the standard face fines and loss of promotion opportunities.
How do countries reduce water consumption?
By working closely with schools, communities and businesses to raise awareness and promote water conservation.
