Though the Earth is covered by water which takes 70% of the entire surface, only less than 3 percent of all water is freshwater which fits for human consumption. Water demand globally is projected to increase dramatically due to the growing world population.

It is estimated that a great part of freshwater is locked up in frozen glaciers which represent approximately 68 percent of it. Freshwater can also be found as either surface water (approximately 1 per cent) or groundwater (approximately 31 percent). Surface water comes from precipitation. That portion of precipitation which does not infiltrate the ground and thus does not become groundwater is called runoff and it flows into streams and lakes.

Agriculture is the single largest user of freshwater in the World though it is important for all types of industries. As a matter of fact irrigation, which is the process of bringing water to an area for use in growing crops, absorbs most of the available freshwater. Irrigated agriculture, which represents approximately 20 percent of the total cultivated land, contributes 40 percent of the total food produced Worldwide. The water that usually comes from aquifers or rivers is the water that is used for agricultural irrigation. Of course people use water for domestic purposes also, such as personal hygiene, food preparation, cleaning, however these activities all together do not compare the quantity used by agriculture.

Natural water cycle is a way that water moves all around the Earth. The cycle never stops, it does not have a beginning or an end, it is like a circle and it is composed of four main stages, namely: precipitation, collection, evaporation and condensation. The term “hydrological cycle” is used to describe this water cycle. This hydrologic cycle according to scientists can be divided into more stages if we look at the different processes which form a continuum of water movement.

Evaporation is a key step in the water cycle. Evaporation turns liquid water into gas called water vapor. Water evaporates at the boiling point of 100° C (212° F) at sea level. Why did we say“at sea level”? Because at high altitudes the air pressure is lower and with lower air pressure there is less of a“lid”on the water, and it can change to a gas at a slightly lower temperature as scientifically proven by Physics.

Oceans contain salt water which cannot be used for normal consumption. This water in order to be used for human activities and consumption needs to be desalinated. The problem is that desalination of water requires a lot of energy and can be pretty costly. Notably salt dissolves very easily in water, forming strong chemical bonds which are difficult to break.

Water can occur in three states: solid (ice), liquid, or gas (vapor). Thus ice is frozen water in a solid form. When water freezes its molecules move farther apart making ice less dense than water. For this reason it results that ice will be lighter than the same volume of water, and this is why ice will float in water. The temperature at which Water freezes is 0° Celsius (32° Fahrenheit).

Freshwater in a liquid form is tipically stored in lakes, rivers and reservoirs and most of the water people use everyday comes from these sources. A river is a natural flowing water source.

The most common form of liquid saltwater is the ocean. Saltwater, or sea water, is water from a sea or oceans. They cover about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and about 97 percent of all water present on our Planet is saline water.

Water is renewed again and again by the natural water (hydrologic) cycle. Basically the water cycle shows the continuous movement of water within the Earth and the atmosphere. Liquid water present on Earth, for example the oceans, evaporates into water vapor, then it condensates to form clouds and then it precipitates back to earth in the form of rain (and snow in determined regions in winter).

Recycling of water means to adopt measures to save resources through reuse not for drinking uses. However not all this water can be recycled. Households, industry and agriculture all together use fresh water and some of it is dispersed in the environment or wasted, therefore the management and protection of water resources is important, and each of us need to save it. More generally, building dams along moving rivers or streams and storing water in large reservoirs or impounding the water in reservoirs are all popular ways to control, protect and make the best use of our precious water resources.

Freshwater can be seen as the lifeblood of our planet and it is vital for every living organism, but when we overuse it for our needs and when we contaminate freshwater sources such as rivers, lakes and even the environment with other pollutant which end into the environment and the atmosphere causing acid rain or even release contaminants into rivers we are threatening our existence and future. Also the growing world’s number population poses a threat to our limited freshwater resources. So it is imperative to avoid waste freshwater and pay more attention to the distribution grids and render them more efficient and use this precious resource wisely.