SOURCES OF WATERTHE SURFACE WATER

Submitted by
Sruthy.S
Bed Social Science
Mar Theophilus Training
College
Nalanchira

INTRODUCTION
Water is the most important liquid. It is everywhere
we look. Water is in the ground & in the air we
breathe. All animals & humans need water to
survive. Water has formed our earth since its
beginning. Since 2/3 of the earth is covered by water
when you look at the earth from outer space , it
looks like a blue ball. For this reason,earth is so
called as blue planet or watery planet.

97 % of the water on earth is saline .

Pure water is only 3%, out of which 2.67% cannot be
directly utilized.
Water that can be directly utilized is only 0.33 %
It is estimated that the total quantity of water in the
earth is 1386 lakh cubic kilometer.
Total quantity of water is found in the oceans, on the
land & atmosphere.

A graphical distribution of the locations of water on Earth.

Only 3% of the Earth's water is fresh water. Most of it in
icecaps and glaciers (69%) and groundwater (30%), while
all lakes, rivers and swamps combined only account for a
small fraction (0.3%) of the Earth's total freshwater
reserves.

SURFACE WATER
Pure water is distributed on earth at the sources of surface
water like rivers lakes & underground water
Rain plays an important role in replenishing these water bodies
Rivers are most important among the source of surface water
The land uses practices in an area significantly influence flow of
water in the rivers
It is found that rivers take their origin from mountains & hill
slopes where there are dense forest ,flow of water can be seen
in the river throughout the year.

If the streams originate on slopes where there are plantations

or mixed crops , it can be seen that flow of water is more
during monsoons & less in summer.
Based on the flow of water, rivers can be divided into twoPerennial & non perennial rivers
Rivers that flow throughout the year are called perennial
rivers. Rainfall & melting of snow are the main sources of
water for Perennial rivers
Rivers which have regular flow during monsoon & are lean in
summer are called Non perennial rivers. This is because in
summer , most of their tributary streams run dry.

There are some perennial rivers which depend solely on rain.

These rivers which take their origin in the region near equator
where there is rainfall in almost all days in a year.
Amazon, Nile & Congo rivers are example for these rivers.
There are some perennial rivers that get rain during rainy
season & melted snow during summer. Eg.Indus, Ganga &
Brahmaputra are rivers which rise from Himalayas.
All the rivers in India except those which take their origin in
Himalayas have a regular flow during monsoon & are lean in
summer.

A part of the rain that falls on earth seeps in to the earth. In some areas water dries
up very quickly. But in paddy fields & marshes water remains stagnant for days.
This is because water does not seep into the earth at the same rate everywhere.
The factors which influence this are
The difference in the composition of soil
The topography of the land
Presence of organic matter
Difference in the composition of soil1. Though the grain in clay are small their porous nature is great but the
permeability is less. Because of this water accumulates in paddy fields &
swamps for days together
2. In sandy areas, grain are larger & porous nature is great & permeability is
also great. In such places, water seeps down quickly.

Topography of land
1. In sandy places with less slope there is favorable situation for the water to
seep down.
2. In sloppy areas with plant coverage water seeps down. But in places where
there is no plant coverage surface flow is more.
. Presence of organic matter
1. The organic matter on the top soil absorbs water & helps to seep down
slowly
2. In places where there is no organic matter in the topsoil the situation for
the seeping down of water is not created.
The water that filters from the top soil inwards it is called INFILTRATION.
The water that filters down travels due to the gravitational pull & become
part of the underground water is called PERCOLATION

The water that infiltrate thus collects in the layers of rock are called
AQUIFERS.
The property of rock that can contain the water is called POROSITY.
The soil & rocks are able to let the water drain is called
PERMEABILITY. It is not necessary for a porous rock to have
permeability.
Example: Clay is porous but not permeable
The subsurface water is distributed in to two main zones.
The zone which is marked as A is the Unsaturated Zone
which is characterized by loose soils & disintegrated rocks.

The zone which is marked as B which is fully saturated with water. This is the
Saturated Zone. The upper portion of this Zone is called the water table.
The water table drops due to excessive use of underground water. This is found in the
areas where rainfall is less. The rate of consumption of underground water is higher
than at which it is replenished, it can cause the water table to drop. In the same way,
when more sand is mined from rivers, the water table is seen to fall. Another reason
for the drop of water table is the reclamation of wetlands.

The humus content in the topsoil absorbs the water & helps it to seep
slowly in to the earth In this way, the underground water table gets
enriched. In place where there is sparse vegetation rain falls with greater
force on earth.

As it does not get absorbed , it becomes an overland flow & causes soil
erosion.
When the top soil is being eroded it paves the way formation of rills
leads to the exposure of rock layers & results in deterioration of land.
Eventually it leads to desertification of land.

CONCLUSION
Water is one of the basic necessities of life. It is the
availability of water that differentiates the earth from
other planets. Water is the gift of nature. Man uses
water in several ways to fulfill his daily needs. Main
sources of water can be from Rain, Snow & Glaciers,
Ground water, Lakes, Oceans, Ponds , Rivers Lagoons
etc..