This lesson offers what might be some new information about the earth’s supply of water. Perhaps you’ve learned for the first time that the real water cycle is a bit more complex than the simple steps involving evaporation, transpiration, condensation and precipitation. In addition, you now know that the urban water cycle adds still more complexity to the world’s water situation, and that, perhaps most important, there are some steps everyone can take to address some of the issues.
Your generation bears none of the blame for the world water situation, but you can play a role in improving it. You took notes on almost every page of the lesson, and it's time to use them, as well as other information presented, to compose your own multimedia project, or write a final essay, in which you summarize the issues related to renewable water, and describe some actions that might help solve some of these challenges.
If you create a multimedia project that requires a social-media, video or audio platform that is not directly offered by this lesson, you will need to post it to a file-sharing site (Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft Teams are examples) and then upload the link to the Write It plug-in. Here are some ideas for what you might want to do:
• Take images from the lesson to create an Instagram or animation storyboard.
• Expand your notes and turn them into a script for a podcast.
• Compose and perform a rap or poetry slam.
• Make a video of yourself providing an oral explanation or commentary.
Use Organize It to outline your ideas. You can review your notes in “My Work” as well as any of the following videos and glossary terms.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
The water cycle may seem pretty simple. Water goes up due to evaporation and transpiration, water condenses, and then comes down as precipitation. But there are a few more steps to consider.
When water falls onto surfaces, it’s “intercepted” by things like leaves, trees, rocks and any surface (umbrella/sidewalk) that gets wet, but then dries (back to evaporation).
The water that does make it to the surface has two options, it can flow over the land as run off or it soaks in -a process called infiltration- and then percolates or moves through the soil. If it doesn’t get routed back into the “up” part of the cycle (trees taking up water, evaporation) it will likely make its way to a storage area like an underground aquifer, a lake or ocean.
But there is that one pesky detail that adds more complexity– humans. We like to change the environment which changes the flow of water through that environment. We build dams, cut down forests, and construct buildings. We divert water to crops (irrigation) and take water from the ground (extraction). All of which adds another arrow until it becomes less of a “cycle”, and more of a super complex system that is constantly changing and being changed.
Just another day in our wonderful, watery world.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
Water water everywhere, but how does it get to be a drink? That is where the Urban Water cycle comes in. Anytime you turn on that tap, flush that toilet, take that shower, or water that yard, you are participating in the Urban Water Cycle– another name for how modern humans extract, process, distribute and consume the water in our lives.
The first step is to source nearby water- from lakes, rivers, reservoirs, or wells– and bring it into our water supply where it is treated. It can then either be stored (water towers) or distributed , and then used (tap, flush, shower, sprinkler).
Used water is then collected via the wonders of gravity and modern wastewater systems. The used water is treated and cleaned, and then put back (discharged) into the environment to be gathered at the source again.
Although this modern marvel of engineering has increased the quality of life for people worldwide, the urban water cycle is quite fragile. Source water fluctuations, increased demand, dated infrastructure (lead pipes) and even changing climate can all have an impact on whether those drops of water even become a drink.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
If you are human and live in modern society, chances are you use a lot
of water. With all the advances in our water system (urban) we’ve gotten used to the idea that water is an endless, on-demand, self-replenishing resource. But Earth’s water cycle (natural & manmade) is more fragile than we imagine.
Threats to our water supply are occurring at every part of the water cycle. Pollution makes water unsafe. Population increases lead to increase in demand (urban & agriculture) and increased sewage and wastewater. Urbanization (paving paradise/deforestation/destruction of wetlands) interrupts the flow back into the cycle. And climate change has drastically changed weather patterns – so that too much (hurricanes, floods) or not enough (drought) water enters our watersheds and causes all sorts of issues.
And even though decades of water-wasting culture has created the problems, we do have the power to fix them.
Creating a culture of water awareness is one step in the process. We can conserve water in our homes, and get smart about what we use water for (lawns, golf courses, etc).
And we can demand the same water-wise culture from our industries (use less, don’t pollute), cities (update systems, preserve/rebuild wetlands, etc) and communities. We can invent and develop new technologies to reduce, reuse, and recycle our water.
Updating the old systems and assumptions, and using water wisely, will make sure our future isn’t so fragile.