The Ways of Water
by Priya Chintamaneni
Why Is Water Important?
We use water for lots of things. We drink it, bathe in it, and wash our hands with it. We also use it for cooking and baking. It's important to drink water because if you don't, you can become dehydrated and sick. Humans are 60% water! When there's not enough water, it's called a drought. During droughts, wildfires can start, and crops may die due to a lack of water. Droughts can happen if humans and animals use too much water or if there isn't enough rain. The average person uses 101.5 gallons of water every day!
Where Does Water Come From?
The sun, air, and gravity all work together to keep water moving in a cycle. The sun's heat causes water to rise from Earth's surface into the air as water vapor. As the vapor cools, it forms clouds in the sky. When the clouds become heavy, water falls back to Earth as rain or snow, this process is called precipitation. It fills lakes, rivers, and oceans, and some of it soaks into the ground. The process of water turning into vapor is called evaporation. When water vapor forms clouds it's called condensation.
Does Everyone Have Clean Water?
Some places in Africa and Asia don't have clean water at all. In these areas, children must walk miles to collect water that is often dirty. While we usually get water from wells, faucets, and bottles, they must travel to small water holes that sometimes dry up during the dry season. These water holes are shared with many people and sometimes even animals. Children often balance large buckets of water on their heads for hours while walking back and forth in the burning heat. Because the water they collect is dirty, people can get sick from waterborne diseases.
How Do We Help The Water Problem?
There are lots of things you can do to help conserve water, even small actions make a big difference! Just by turning off the water while brushing your teeth and taking shorter showers, you're helping! It's really important to save water because only 3% of Earth's water is freshwater, and only 1% of that is drinkable. The other 2% is frozen in glaciers. Conserving water also helps prevent droughts, which can lead to wildfires and dying crops. I wondered how I could help with the water problem, so I posed my question to William Sarni, a water expert. Here is what he suggested: Individuals can donate to organizations that have a mission to improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. Organizations such as Water for People, a Denver, Colorado-based, are focused on improving access to safe drinking water. Also, WWF works to improve access to safe drinking water, conservation, and healthy ecosystems. Last, he shared a statistic that shocked me - an estimated 3 million people in the US don't have access to safe drinking water! So remember, reduce your use and conserve as much water if you can!