CHAPTER 1

WATER RESOURCES AND QUALITY

BY :

NOOR AZMA BINTI ABU BAKAR

 WHY
DO WE NEED WATER?
THE IMPPORTANCE OF WATER SUPPLY

Water is probably the most important resource on

Earth.We need water to grow and to stay alive. In fact,
we could only live for a few days without drinking
water. We also need water to grow plants and care for
animals, cook our food, bathe and brush our teeth,
flush the toilet, and wash our clothes.
 Can you think of
other uses for water ?
Why do we need to save water?

Look at the picture of Earth. Most of the Earth’s surface is

covered in water. You might think that there is plenty of water
for everyone to use. But did you know that most of the water
on earth is ocean water? Ocean water is very salty. You can’t
drink it or use it for growing plants, cooking food, bathing, or
washing clothes. The water we use for these things is called
freshwater. It comes from rain or snow that falls in rivers and
lakes. It is also found stored in rocks beneath the ground.
Some people don’t have enough freshwater where they
live. It is important for everyone to conserve, or save,
water so that there is enough for everyone.
Water Resources

Water
Earth’s surface is covered by 71%
water
Essential for life – can survive only a
few days without water
Supply of Water Resources

Small fraction (.014%) is readily available for human use

Iceberg and Polar cap store most of the fresh water on Earth
 Volume of water stored in
the water cycle's reservoirs

Reservoir Volume of water Percent

(106 km³) of total
Ocean 1370 97.25
Ice caps & glaciers 29 2.05
Groundwater 9.5 0.68
Lakes 0.125 0.01
Soil Moisture 0.065 0.005
Atmosphere 0.013 0.001
Streams & rivers 0.0017 0.0001
Biosphere 0.0006 0.00004
Water Resources
Are sources of water that
are useful to humans. Uses
of water include
agricultural, industrial,
household, recreational
and environmental
activities. Virtually all of
these human uses require
fresh water.
 Water resources are divided:
Water resources are divisible
into two distinct categories :
1. the surface-water resources
and
2. the ground-water resources.
 Each of these categories is a
part of the earth's water
circulatory system, called the
hydrologic cycle, and is derived
from precipitation, which is
rainfall plus snow.
 Sources of Fresh Water
Surface water:
Surface water is water in a river, lake or fresh water
wetland. Surface water is naturally replenished by
precipitation and naturally lost through discharge to
the oceans, evaporation, and sub-surface seepage.
Ground Water:
Sub-surface water, or groundwater, is fresh
water located in the pore space of soil and
rocks. It is also water that is flowing within
aquifers below the water table.

•Desalination:

Desalination is an artificial
process by which saline
water (generally sea
water) is converted to
fresh water.
 Frozen Water:
Several schemes have been proposed to
make use of icebergs as a water source,
however to date this has only been done
for novelty purposes. Glacier runoff is
considered to be surface water.

•Under River
flow