Water in South Africa Flashcards
What is water used for?
- Bathing
- brushing teeth
- flushing
- drinking
- washing
- farming
- mining
- gardening
- recreation
How is water used in farming?
To irrigate the crops
Feed animals
Keep machines running and cool
How is water used in factories?
Part on the process of making different things.
To cool and clean machines
For air conditioners
How is water used recreationally?
• swimming
• skiing
• surfing
• diving
• body boarding
How is water used to make electricity?
It is used to turn turbines
Either by
* boiling the water to make steam and then using the steam to turn the turbines
* falling water from dams
How is water used in mines?
To keep the mines cool
To separate the ores (gold etc from others)
What is fresh water?
It is not salty
What is salt water ?
Water with salt in it.
(people cannot drink it. makes up 97% of the earths water)
What is evaporation?
When liquid is heated and changes to steam
What are resources?
Useful things people need and use in their lives
How is fresh water obtained from salt water?
By the process of evaporation
Where do you find fresh water?
Rivers
Streams
Groundwater
Precipitation
Wetlands
What is groundwater and how is it replenished?
Water located below the ground surfaces in spaces between soil and rock formations.
It is replenished is from the surface
(Can seep to the surface springs, oasis, wetlands)
What is precipitation?
Any state of water that falls from the sky
Give examples of precipitation?
Rain
Sleet
Snow
Hail
Why is precipitation important?
It is our master source of fresh water (it fills rivers, lakes, ponds and streams)
How can water spread disease?
Dirty water can spread disease
How can we look after our water?
Do not waste it
Do not make it dirty
Describe the natural water cycle
- Sun heats water in ocean/sea and turns the water into water vapour (not salty; salt stays in the sea)
- When air cools, water vapour turns to water again (condensation) and forms clouds
- Then precipitates to earth (rain, snow etc)
- Rainwater collects into channels to make streams (some water soaks into the ground and collects in cracks & caves)
- Streams join together to make rivers
- Rivers flow downhill to the sea
(Sometimes, rivers first make a lake; some places next to rivers/lakes stay wet - called wetlands)
Why do people store water?
To use it in the future
What kind of water do people store?
Fresh water, often rainwater, some times ground water
How do farmers store water? Why?
Dams.
So that they always have water for their crops and animals.
List different ways that people store water
Jo Jo tanks
Dams
Bottles
Geysers
Hells
Kettle
Cup
Pots
How do people get their water?
From wells and boreholes (underground),
Taps,
Trucks with water containers,
Rainwater (Jo Jo tanks)
What is deeper, a borehole or a well?
Boreholes
What is a well?
A hole in the ground to reach the ground water, people usually get the water out with a bucket.
How do people reach ground water?
By digging or drilling onto the ground (making wells or boreholes)
How do people get water if they have no wells or boreholes or running water?
From water trucks (which bring water every few days which people collect using containers to take to their home)
Describe the process of water coming to our taps.
• rain
• rivers
• dams (which stores the water)
• treatment center cleans the water
• reservoir stores cleaned water
• pumping stations push water to places where people live
• water reaches taps through underground pipes
List 3 personal daily practices that pollute water
• letting soaps and cleaning products from houses and villages wash into into rivers
• burning fuels lets off chemicals into the air and dirt that join the water cycle
• toilets sometimes leak into rivers and dams
Why should you not let cleaning products wash into the river?
They contain chemicals that pollute the water and make it unsafe to drink
How does burning fuels pollute water?
The burning lets off chemicals and dirt into the air, then the rain washed those chemicals are into soil, rivers and dams
Why is it bad if toilets leak into rivers?
Your body waste pollutes the water, especially because it contains harmful bacteria
How do factories contribute to water pollution?
There are harmful chemicals in the waste water and the waste flows from drains into rivers and dams
How does farming pollute water?
Fertilizers and pesticides used in farming wash into rivers;
Also
There are harmful chemicals in the waste water and the waste flows from drains into rivers and dams
Describe waste water and sewage recycling
Dirty water from settlements passes through pipes as sewage.
The sewage is cleaned at a sewage treatment works.
Cleaned sewage is put back into rivers and/ or sea (which is not harmful because it’s been cleaned)
