What is Water?
Introduction
Water is essential for the survival of all life forms as we know it on planet earth.
There is an estimated 1.386 billion cubic kilometers (333 million cubic miles) of water on Earth including all it states, gaseous, liquid and frozen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrosphere
It is the single most abundant substance found on earth, covering a staggering 71% of the Earth’s surface.
The oceans, seas and bays contain an estimated 96.54% of all water on earth, ice caps, glaciers & permanent snow 1.74%, groundwater 1.69% with the remaining 0.03% found in soil moisture, ground ice & permafrost, lakes, the atmosphere, swamp water, rivers and biological water.
What is Water?
Water is an inorganic chemical that is the main constituent for the Earths hydrosphere and in its purest form is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, transparent liquid, that is comprised of molecules consisting of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom.
Water can exist in three different states, as a gas (water vapour aka steam), liquid (water), or solid (ice).
Evaporation is when water in its liquid state is turned into a gas by heat forcing the bonds that hold the water molecules together to break. When water is turned into a gas it is also known as vapour. Evaporation will occur at any temperature above freezing point as the collision between air molecules and water molecules generates energy/heat. However, evaporation obviously occurs faster at higher temperatures, for example water will evaporate faster at 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit) versus 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).
Condensation is the opposite of Evaporation and is the process of water vapor being turned back into liquid water when exposed to cold temperatures. Condensation occurs when warm air collides with cold surfaces causing it to cool down quickly, the water vapour condenses and turns into liquid droplets on the cold surface. Condensation also occurs as the vapour travels higher in the atmosphere, cooling due to the lowering temperatures. Once cool enough, the water vapour condenses and returns to liquid water in the form of water droplets. These water droplets gather to form clouds.
Water in its liquid state is frozen into a solid state knows as ice when the temperature falls below 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Where Does Water come from?
The Origins of Water on Earth
Although evidence points to bodies of water being present on other planets and moons within our own solar system, the vast majority are without and as of this moment in time Earth is the only known planet (or moon) to have consistent, stable bodies of liquid water on its surface.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/et-oceans.html
The fact that water is so central to life on Earth as we know it, the question of its origins often arises.
This is a matter which is hotly debated amongst the scientific community, there is no universally accepted theory, with two main theories being prominent.
One theory being that water has always existed within the rocks of the Earth's mantle and was released to the surface as a result of volcanic activity whilst the other theory suggests that water on Earth could be the result of a direct collision with asteroids and comets.
https://astronomy.com/magazine/2019/04/where-did-earths-water-come-from
The Water Life-Cycle on Earth
Water on earth exists in three different states, as a gas (water vapour aka steam), liquid (water), or solid (ice).
The water cycle describes the sum of all the processes involved in the continuous movement of water through the Earths land, oceans and atmosphere.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hydrologic-cycle
There are three main steps involved in this process, evaporation, condensation and precipitation. However, they are not the only ones, transpiration,runoff, and snow-melt also play an important role in the water cycle.
https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/freshwater/water-cycle
Evaporation occurs when the sun heats the earth causing temperatures to rise, this rise in temperature causes in turn causes the water in our lakes, rivers and oceans to heat up. When exposed to heat the molecules contained within move faster, the water molecules will separate once they move fast enough turning them into a gas aka water vapour.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/evaporation
Transpiration is another part of the water cycle and is the process of water vapour being released from plants. Plants absorb liquid water from the soil and release the water into the air in the form of vapour through microscopic pores on their leaves known as stomata.
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/evapotranspiration-and-water-cycle
The process of evaporation and transpiration when combined are referred to as evapotranspiration.
The water vapour created as a result of both once cooled returns to its liquid form in a process known as condensation.
Condensation is the opposite of evapotranspiration and occurs when warm air encounters cold surfaces causing the water vapour contained within to condense, turning it into liquid droplets.
Condensation also occurs as the vapour created as a result of evapotranspiration travels higher in the atmosphere, in a process which takes roughly 10 days in total. As the vapour rises, it begins to cool due to the lowering temperatures. As it gets colder, the water vapour condenses, forming water droplets. These water droplets in turn gather to form clouds. As too many of these water droplets combine, they become too heavy to remain suspended in the cloud and fall to earth in the form of rain, sleet or snow in a process knows as precipitation. Once the rain, sleet or snow reaches earth, they end up in our soil, plants, trees, aquifers, rivers, oceans, and the life cycle of water starts all over again.
https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/freshwater/water-cycle
The Importance of Water on Earth
Water, and Liquid water is vital to life on Earth as we know it. Among the scientific community it is thought to be so important that there is an almost universal belief that the existence of life on other planets without it is thought to be impossible, hence why the search for the existence of extra-terrestrial life on other planets by organizations such as NASA centres around a search for planets with water.
The human body is comprised of around 60% water, a person could only survive 3 days without it. It is deemed to be one of the six essential nutrients along with protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals
Water within the body is involved in many vital roles such as the transportation of nutrients, regulation of body temperature, assisting in the digestion process to the flushing of waste from the body.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325174
The water we use daily in our homes, to drink, prepare food with, clean with etc comprises only a small percentage of the water used globally on any given day
Water plays an important role in our lives in many indirect ways, ones which may not automatically be at the forefront of one’s mind.
The fish that inhabit our water ways are a major source of food and are the third major source of dietary protein accounting for 6.4% of all protein consumed globally.
Water also plays an important role in agriculture from the feeding of livestock to its use in irrigation, in industry to assist in cooling processes or during the manufacturing process of various materials such as wood or steel or even during medical procedures.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/other/index.html
The Importance of Understanding the Quality of Your Drinking Water
The incoming water in your home is sourced from either ground or surface water and is transported via a plumbing system
Groundwater is sourced in underground water-bearing rocks also known as an aquifers that are accessed via the drilling of a well into the ground.
Surface water is water located on the ground level, such as water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and seas.
Although some countries in the middle east utilize the sea as a source of water, they are in the minority due to its high mineral content, they only do so due to a lack of other viable options as the desalination costs associated with the processing of it are extremely high.
During the life-cycle of water, it encounters many different types of contaminants both organic and inorganic, naturally occurring and man-made.
Natural contamination can occur when chemicals and minerals such as arsenic, uranium and radon leach into the water it encounters.
Contamination caused by human activity can be caused in all manner of ways, for example when chemicals utilized during the agricultural or manufacturing processes find their way into our water supplies.
It is easy to assume as most do that your drinking water is safe to drink. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees, and as is often not the case, this applies to not only water from a private well but also to water coming from a municipal water supply system.
Municipal water supply systems were not designed for and are not capable of removing certain contaminants. For example, there are new and emerging contaminants such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), pesticides which are making their way into our water supplies.
Contamination of the water supply can also occur post filtration due to ageing or faulty plumbing infrastructure such as cracks in pipes and can also be caused due to an indirect and unintended consequence of the use of chemicals such as chlorine as disinfectants during the treatments process. These chemicals can corrode the pipes of the internal plumbing system of your home and cause them to leach dangerous chemicals into the water.
Most contaminants are undetectable to the human senses and can cause serious health issues or even death, many go unnoticed or are only unnoticed after it is too late.
Conclusion
Water is one of the great wonders and although there is some debate over its exact origins there is no debating the essential role it plays to the existence of all known life on planet earth.
There is also no debating how it reaches our taps or the fact it comes into contact with many contaminants along this journey.
Water aka H20 in its purest form consist of molecules comprising of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, therefore anything other than those can be considered to be a contaminant.
Water plays an extremely important role within the human body and is involved in many vital roles, hence why it so important to ensure the water you consume daily is free from harmful contaminants.
YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH