Tyler Crandell

2/1/17

Period 2

Water Research Report

How is water essential for sustaining life?

In what ways is the worldwide water supply in danger?

Do you like water? Do you eat fruits and vegetables? Do you like the things that

you can buy from an everyday store? If you said yes to any of these questions then you

are like the other millions of people, and you should know that the water is being

polluted, and when the water supply is polluted the fruits, vegetables, and clean drinking

water may be hard to find. Polluted water is now common in some areas of the world

and it can be very harmful to humans, plants and animals, so this could make it harder

to produce some products because of contaminated water. Water is extremely

essential to sustaining life because without it people would not be able to produce

crops, produce goods and help their body function the way it needs to. Water is

essential to life in many ways, yet many of the water supplies are being damaged due to

the daily uses that humans are using it for.

Water is what keeps humans and other animals alive and healthy through

agriculture, drinking it, and industrial uses. First, water is consumed by humans very

often because many parts of the body use water for cleaning out all the waste and

unneeded gunk that the human body produces, the parts of the human body that use
water for these activities are the kidneys and the liver (Laskey). Everydayhealth states

that Water does more than just quench your thirst and regulate your body's

temperature; it also keeps the tissues in your body moist. water helps protect the spinal

cord, and it acts as a lubricant and cushion for your joints,(Laskey). Secondly water

can also be used for other things such as industrial uses like producing medicine,

shelters and much more. A company called academic evergreen states that Industry is

reliant on water for all levels of production, It can be used as a raw material, solvent,

coolant, transport agent, and energy source,(Schroeder). Industry uses a lot of water,

yet agriculture uses more water for even less profits; 1000 tons of water will produce 1

ton of wheat which could be sold for $200 while 1000 tons of water could make many

more goods that could be sold for $14000 in the industrial sector (Alois). Lastly, water

can be used for producing crops and meat that humans eat daily, for the animals and

plants both need a lot of water to grow. In my research the Panda organisation states

that ...the agricultural sector consumes about 70% of the planet's accessible freshwater

more than twice that of industry (23%), and dwarfing municipal use (8%),(Parker).

Because of irrigation for crops and the cleaning of our food, agriculture is the number

one water consumer at 70% of the global consumption(Alois).

Overall without water people would not be able to go out their daily lives the

same way that they do now, for people need food, drinking water and other industrial

products to survive, and humans need this water to drink to stay healthy.

The water that people, animals, and plants use is now being damaged because

of water shortages, agriculture pollution and industrial pollution. The first way that the
worldwide water supply is being damaged is by a shortage of water. If a region has less

than 1700 m3 of water per person it would be considered water stressed, and the

amount of water that exists on the planet is 1700 m3 per capita(Alois). The Global

Water Crisis Overview states an interesting fact that 80 countries now have water

shortages and 2 billion people lack access to clean water, More disturbingly, the World

Health, Organization has reported that 1 billion people lack enough water to simply

meet their basic needs,(Alois). Secondly, food production is also causing harm to our

waterways although people do need food it is very harmful to our environment to

produce it. Producing food contributes a lot to water pollution, for when nitrogen

fertilizer is used it will have water a run off with fertilizer in it which will pollute our

waterways, and the nitrates in fertilizer has been known to give harmful effects to

humans and animals(Alois). The conserve-energy-future organisation states that

Agricultural pollution is the main source of pollution in water and lakes. Chemicals from

fertilizers and pesticides make their way into the groundwater that end up in drinking

water... Oil, degreasing agents, metals and toxins from farm equipment cause health

problems when they get into drinking water,(Rinkesh). Lastly, industrial pollution

contributes significantly to the amount of poor water. According to the academic

evergreen organisation Some 300-500 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic

sludge, and other wastes accumulate each year from industry, most of which gets into

the freshwater supply, In some developing countries, 70% of industrial wastes are

dumped into untreated waters where they pollute the drinking water,(Schroeder). Many

animal feces from the industrial livestock can destroy nearby ecosystems and be
harmful to humans, for a lot of animal feces have been disposed in ecosystems (Alois).

In conclusion the worldwide water supply is being damaged from Industrial pollution,

agricultural pollution, and many water shortages.

Water is used all around the world all the time and it is what makes life possible,

yet humans are damaging this water supply because of the activities that humans use it

for on a daily basis. The worldwide water supply is being damaged because of the lack

of water in some areas of the world, the agricultural fertilizers, agricultural pesticides,

and industrial pollution from the toxic outputs or metals that are dumped into water

sources. These water sources that people are polluting are heavily needed by humans

because of industrial manufacturing, agricultural production, and to let humans drink to

stay healthy. If you do like water, like foods and store bought products then you just

have another reason to conserve water and not pollute it, for it is what makes life

possible.