Water in South Africa

Question 1

Name some ways in which we use water

Answer 1

Brush my teeth
Flush the toilet
Wash the dishes
Cook food
Have a bath
Wash clothes
Drink

Question 2

Name six other ways in which water is used in South Africa

Answer 2

Water is used in farming
Water is used in mines
Water is used in factories
Water is used to make electricity
Water is used in gardens
Water is used for recreation

Question 3

How is water used in mines?

Answer 3

Mines get very hot underground. Water is used in machines that call the air
Water is also used in the process that separates the gold and other things being mined from the rock

Question 4

Name two ways in which water is used to make electricity

Answer 4

In a power station water is boiled to make steam. The steam is used to turn big machines
Some big dams use the energy of falling water to turn turbines that make electricity

Question 5

Name two types of water found on earth

Answer 5

Salt water

Freshwater

Question 6

Where is most of Earth’s water found?

Answer 6

In the sea. It cannot be drunk

Question 7

Describe the water cycle

Answer 7

1. The sun heats the water in the sea
2. The heat changes water into water vapour which becomes part of the air
3. In the sky some of the water vapour cools. It changes back into small drops of water. These droplets join together to form clouds
4. When there are a lot of water drops in the cloud some of them fall as rain
5. The rainwater flows over land to the river
6. Rivers carry water from the land to the sea

Question 8

Can new water ever been made?

Answer 8

No. All the water that the earth will ever have his here now

Question 9

Name five places where fresh water be found in nature

Answer 9

Streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, groundwater

Question 10

Why do we store water?

Answer 10

To be sure that we always have it when we need it

Question 11

Name three ways in which we store water

Answer 11

Dams, water tanks, buckets and parts

Question 12

Name four ways in which people get water

Answer 12

People collect water from rivers, streams and springs
People use wells and boreholes to get water from underground
People fill containers with water from a truck
People get water from a tap

Question 13

What is a spring?

Answer 13

A place where underground water comes up out of the ground

Question 14

What is well?

Answer 14

A Whitehall that people dig which is deep enough to reach underground water

Question 15

What is a borehole

Answer 15

A narrow hole that is drilled through the ground to underground water, a pipe is put into the hole

Question 16

Where does the water in the taps come from? (Four steps

Answer 16

Water is stored in a dam
The water is cleaned in a purification plant
Water is stored in the reservoir
The water flows through pipes to the tap

Question 17

What is waste water?

Answer 17

Dirty water, polluted water

Question 18

Name some ways in which you pollute water

Answer 18

The dirt you wash away, toothpaste, soap and washing powders all pollute the water
Human waste and paper pollute the water

Question 19

How do factories pollute water?

Answer 19

Factories and soap, chemicals, oil, little pieces of metal, stones or wood to the water they use. Some factories send their wastewater straight into a river or the sea

Question 20

How do farms pollute water?

Answer 20

Fertilisers or pesticides mix with rainwater which flows into the rivers
Animal waste also mixes with rainwater

Question 21

Where does waste water go? (Five stages)

Answer 21

1. Wastewater from homes and factories goes down pipe’s into a big pipe under the ground
2. Water from the toilet and other waste water are mixed together in this pipe. Wastewater that has human waste is called sewage. The pipes that carry sewage are called sewers
3. The sewers take the sewage to the sewage treatment plant
4. The water is cleaned at the sewage treatment plant
5. The clean water is put into the river, a lake or the sea