EnviroAtlas Benefit Clean and Plentiful Water

Since dinosaurs walked the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, the water you drink now has most certainly existed in some form.While the amount of freshwater on the earth has remained relatively consistent over time—recycling continuously through the atmosphere and back into our cups—the world’s population has increased. This means that the competition for a clean, plentiful supply of water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sustaining life becomes more intense every year.For some, water scarcity is an abstract concept, but for others, it is a harsh reality. It is the outcome of a complex interplay of environmental, political, economic, and social factors.Freshwater makes up a tiny percentage of the total amount of water on the earth.While water covers approximately 70% of the planet, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. The remainder is saline and ocean-based. Even then, barely 1% of our freshwater is accessible, with the bulk trapped in glaciers and snowfields. Only 0.007% of the world’s water is available to fuel and nourish the planet’s 6.8 billion inhabitants.

Stressors to water quality and quantity

• Land management, point-source pollution, hydrologic modification, and invasive species can all have an impact on water quality and quantity.
• Pollution from factories, power plants, and other stationary sources enters water directly. Pollution from agricultural areas, impermeable surfaces, and other land uses is referred to as non-point source (NPS) pollution.
• Agricultural NPS pollution was recorded as the largest source of water quality deterioration in assessed lakes and rivers in the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory2. Forestry practises also have a considerable impact on water quality by increasing the quantity of silt deposited in local bodies of water.
• Pollution affects the general utility of water and, in some situations, such as when algal blooms are present, can completely modify ecosystems.
• Dam construction, for example, disrupts the general operation of water systems by slowing water flow, trapping sediments, changing temperature, and encouraging the presence of non-native and invasive species3.
• By crowding out native species in riparian environments, changing local species composition, and compromising structural integrity as well as the ecosystem’s ability to remove pollutants from the environment, invasive species may further degrade natural ecosystems.
• Water quality and quantity are also affected by other land uses, such as those that need significant areas of impervious surfaces (e.g., parking lots). Rainwater is prevented from entering the soil by impervious surfaces, causing it to flow along the land until it reaches a drain, preventing groundwater recharge.These surfaces also increase the quantity, speed, and temperature of water runoff, as well as pollution loads in the water, which can affect downstream water quality 

Health impacts and benefits

• Every part of life requires clean and ample water resources. Humans require safe, potable water for drinking, cooking, and other basic needs.
• Though most municipal water resources in the United States are treated before use, keeping clean water resources reduces the need for and cost of treatment. For example, rigorous watershed preservation procedures allow New York City’s drinking water supply system to be the largest unfiltered water supply in the United States. This natural system has saved the state an estimated $8 to $10 billion in water treatment costs.4
• Natural filtering by ecosystems is important in adding a level of protection to municipal water sources because they are normally treated only for those toxins that we are aware of.Chemical or metal impurities in contaminated water that is not properly handled might cause waterborne illness outbreaks or major health problems.
• Water resources are abundant and are utilised to cultivate crops, water animals, and digest most of the food we consume.
• Water resources are also utilised to generate electricity (thermoelectric, hydroelectric, nuclear) and are necessary for the manufacture of the majority of the things that people enjoy.
• Plant and animal survival also requires clean and adequate water resources. Aquatic and wetlands-dependent species require aquatic habitats throughout the year. These rivers, lakes, streams, and marshes are also beautiful and provide chances for fishing, hunting, and relaxing.
• Natural resources provide regulating and filtering services that help to provide a safe and plentiful water supply for the entire country.

Ecosystems provide water resources

• Clean water is essential for people’s health, the environment, and the economy. Rivers, lakes, and streams produce around 80% of potable freshwater, with the rest coming primarily from underground wells.
• By intercepting, absorbing, and slowly releasing water, vegetation serves to regulate the flow of water through a watershed. This “sponge” effect can help to mitigate negative effects such stream bank erosion, sediment movement, and the frequency and severity of floods and droughts.
• Pollutants such as metals, pesticides, silt, and overabundant nutrients can be naturally filtered out by natural resources such as wetlands, stream buffers, and vegetated land cover.
• Many biological and physical features, such as species composition, soil types, slope, and climate conditions, influence ecosystems’ ability to filter pollutants.
• Natural land cover aids in the flow and utilisation of water resources, ensuring that they remain clean and plentiful for present and future generations to enjoy.

Conclusion

Freshwater is a finite and limited resource on Earth, and most of it is becoming progressively contaminated by pathogenic bacteria and chemical toxins.Human demand for freshwater is growing, particularly for irrigating crops to feed the world’s fast growing population.

Water moves through the oceans, the atmosphere, and freshwater river systems on a global scale. Water is cleansed several times along the cycle, both naturally and through treatment plants.

Freshwater is distributed relatively unevenly over the world, therefore a substantial section of the world’s human population lacks adequate water for growing crops, drinking, and sanitation.