Libiano 1

Daryl John Libiano

Ma. Carmela Paula Blacer
English 2
15 December 2014
The Life-Giving Drop
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (Christian
Community Bible, Jn 4:14).
Water. It is that fluid thing we see flowing in rivers or floating above our drinks or
hovering over the skies. Water. It is what makes our world so special. Water. It is five-letter word
synonymous to Life.
According to the New Websters Dictionary, water is a liquid that is a compound of
hydrogen and oxygen, H2O, which is odourless, colorless and tasteless at its pure state. Water is a
common substance we encounter every day. It could be the juice we drink or the ice we thaw or
the clouds we gaze. But has this question ever crossed your mind? Where did water come from?
No one is certain about the origin of water on earth. Some scientists says that water was
formed by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen atoms during the early years of our planet.
Early water was still in its gaseous state and began to liquefy when the earth was cooling.
However, the discovery of the Rosetta about hard water in asteroids sparked the speculations that

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water on earth was of external origin. Frequent collisions of water-rich asteroids during the early
years formed our todays oceans and seas (Fazekas). The Bible also is in question whether the
earth was entirely made of water before the creation or water was part of the heavens God
created on the first day.
Well, Earth is a watery planet, isnt it? And water is everywhere, right? The Earth is
composed of almost 70% water. However, out of the all the water in Earth, only less 3% is
available for drinking. These source of fresh water are glaciers, which are frozen all the time; the
atmosphere, that only contains water vapor; the biosphere, where water is found in all living
things mostly plant; groundwater, which is most of the time underground; and surface water like
in the rivers, ponds and lakes. And for the whopping 97.6% percent of water in the earth is found
in the salty oceans and seas (Hewith et al. 773).
Water caters both one of largest and the relatively smallest biomes of the planet. The
marine ecosystem occupy 70% of the earths surface. Saltwater fishes and organisms thrive in
this biome. It is divided into the pelagic zone, the shallow waters, and the benthic zone, the
depths of the oceans. Freshwater ecosystem are the most convenient and cheapest source of
drinking water. This includes lentic waters such as ponds and lakes, and lotic waters like streams
and rivers (Murray 461).
Water is essential in most of the basic life processes. Water is needed in plants food
making process called the photosynthesis. It is also needed in cellular respiration, the energy
conversion process of living things. It is a major component in every body system processes in
the human body. In fact, an average human body is approximately 70% water. Basically, we are
powered by hydraulic mechanisms, from our bones and muscles up to our brain and heart.

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Water is essential for the body. We need at least 8-10 glasses of water each day. That is
equivalent to more or less 2 liters of water! Why? Because it only takes 1% to 2% of total water
percentage of the body to cause dehydration (Darling 12-13). Water is a great detoxifying
element. Water carry waste products out of the body like salts, toxins and excess vitamins and
minerals that can cause several complications. Water helps maintain the normal body
temperature of the body and is essential in proper bodily functions. Without water, we are just a
dry skin bag of crispy bones and dehydrated organs.
In the medical world, water is a great help. Aside from cleaning surgical tools and
washing the body, water is used in hydrotherapy because of its high specific heat capacity
property. Water has therapeutic value when its temperature differs with that of the body
temperature, thus changing the physiological sate of the body. ( de Guzman-Ladion 6)
Water played an important role in the world history. John Green said in Crash Course that
almost all of the ancient civilizations are always related with river systems. We have the Tigris
and Euphrates in Mesopotamia, the Huang He River in Ancient China, the Nile in Ancient Egypt,
and the Indus River for the Indus River Valley Civilization. River valley floods bring nutrientrich silt which is essential in agriculture.
Since water helps us in cleaning, it is always associated with purity and cleansing. a great
symbolism in religions. Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism and
Christianity all use water as a symbol of purification. Also, they have holy waters that can
sanctify or purify. Bodies of water such as waterfalls or springs associated with gods and deities
are believed to have powers to heal sicknesses (Water in Religion).

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Water is essential for life. We need clean potable water to live. But what if we dont have
sources of these?
There are many ways to purify water. First is the most basic: filtration. Filtration filters
foreign objects in water such as twigs and leaves. It doesnt disinfect the water, unfortunately.
Boiling or sterilization boils the water and kills most bacteria and pathogens. This is the most
common way of water purification. Osmosis and reversed osmosis make use of the osmosis
process to separate salt from water by the use of semi-permeable membrane. Distillation recovers
both salt and other water components and the water itself with the use of a distillation chamber.
There are also chemical ways like chlorination and ozonation which adds chlorine (Cl-) and
ozone (O3), respectively, to the water (Laride).
Water is the source of life. But what if the water itself has no life? Water pollution has
gotten worse. Nitrates and Phosphates in water from fertilizers and soaps promotes algal bloom
which depletes the dissolved oxygen levels in water. Acid rain is formed when sulphur dioxides
and nitrogen oxides emission from factories mix with the water in clouds and reacts to form an
acidic substance (What Causes Acid Rain?)
Water is the source of life. So far, earth is to only planet in the vast universe to have
sufficient water supply for mankind. We cant live without water and we know, should know and
must know that. We must protect and preserve it because only we have it and no one else. Life is
water. Water is life. Each drop is indeed a life-giving drop.

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Works Cited
Christian Community Bible. Ed. Bernardo Hurault. Beijing: Amity, 2002. Print.
Darling, Tammy. "Water Works." Health and Home May-June 2010: 12-13. Print
De Guzman-Ladion, Herminia. Healing Wonders of Water. Manila: PPH. Print. 1994.
Fazekas, Andrew. "Mystery of Earths Water Origin Solved." National Geographic News.
National Geographic., 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
Green, John. Indus Valley Civilization. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube. 2 Feb 2012 .
Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
Hewith, Paul G., et al. Conceptual Integrated Science. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson. Print. 2014.
Murray, Andrew. High School Subjects for Self Study. Vol. 2. Quezon: Success Unlimited. Print.
2008.
Laride, William. Water Purification. Integrated Scince 1. Philippine Science High SchoolWestern Visayas, Iloilo. n.d. Lecture.
"Water." The New Websters Dictionary of the English Language. 2nd ed. 1975. Print.
"Water in Religion. African Water. Paula Abrams, May 2003. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
"What Causes Acid Rain?." EPA. US Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.