Congratulations Kaka Lotha of Class 9B for securing the 2nd position at the Dimapur District Level Science seminar held at Govt. Higher Secondary School, on 9th August 2008, on the topic - "Water crisis on earth - Problem and remedies". She will now represent Dimapur district at the State level at Kohima in the month of Sept. 2008.
The entire text of the winnning essay is below :
“Water Crisis on Earth – Problems and remedies”.
We humans live on a planet that is dominated by water. More than 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Scientist estimates that the hydrosphere contain 1.36 billion cubic kilometers of water, mostly in the form of liquid that occupies topographic depression on the earth. There is no doubt that water is required for the facilitation of most biotic or abiotic environmental processes. In fact, life on earth would be miserable or rather impossible without water. As the world human population increases so does the need for water increases. Today, we are living on the edge of water related problems not concerning on quantitative but concerning on qualitative.
The term “water crisis” refers to the scarcity of usable water. The crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs, but it is a crisis of managing water, that billion of people of the environment suffers badly. As we all know that the planetary water supply is dominated by oceans, covering approximately 97% of all the water on the earth. The other 3% is held as fresh water in glaciers, and icecaps, ground water, lakes, soil, the atmosphere, etc. So why don’t we care for this small amount of water and share it?
Today, if we look at the present scenario, the amount of usable water is depleting at a very alarming rate, giving rise to number of water related problems. Out of many problems, I would like to stress on few issues, which I feel is worth pondering upon. They are :-
- Loss of biodiversity : Where does the blame for the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of biological resources lie? Surely the answer seems clear. The root cause is growth in human population, placing increasing demands on natural resources and ecosystem processes. Vegetation and wild life are fundamentally dependent upon adequate fresh water resources. But, due to the scarcity of water vegetation and wild life are depleting, disturbing the ecological balance.
- Limit agricultural development and industrial expansion : With the growth of industrial revolution, the use of water has been increasing about twice as fast as human population growth. Most of this water is used in agricultural and various industrial processes. Therefore, shortage of water will definitely limit agricultural development and industrial expansion.
- Impact on health : The impact on health as a result of water crisis speaks a volume. Water borne diseases such as typhoid, paratyphoid fevers, cholera, bacillary dysentery, etc., and the absence of sanitary domestic water are the leading causes of death world wide.
The on going discussion regarding water-related problems portrays a gloomy picture, projecting a great threat for a healthy survival of mankind. Thus, it is the need of hour for us to find out some fruitful solutions to check water crisis that has already taken its shape. Some of the possible means of meeting water deficient problems include :
- Reclamation of sewage and waste water.
- Desalination of sea water.
- Harvesting rain water.
- Water management and conservation.
- Water treatment.
Out of the few points, I have mentioned, I would like to stress a little bit on water treatment process because it is technically friendly. Two types of filters are usually used in water treatment plant. They are :-
i. Rapid Sand Filter : The characteristics of rapid sand filter is high rate of filtration and consequently less area requirement. A rapid sand filter consists of a bed supported by gravels of different sizes in layers. Above which is a layer of fine sand at least 30 cm thick. The standard rate of filteration is usually 50 to 100 liters per min.per.sq.m.
ii. Slow Sand Filter : The erection of this type of treatment plant involves very high cost and need a larger area than that of rapid process. But this process is very efficient in removing bacteria, colour and odour, even without the use of any chemicals. This process is infact meant for the rural areas where electricity is a problem and the availability of space is not a limiting factor.
Indeed, I firmly agree with the saying, “everything originated in the water and everything is sustained by water”. I hope you too agree with me. Water is needed to fulfill the diverse requirements in so many diverse ways. It is vital to life for all physiological activities of plants and equally for animals as well.
“Water, water everywhere, not any drop to drink” – is the situation not only found amidst the sea, but we are not far behind considering the amount of unsuitable water, making it unfit for human consumption. Therefore, at the close of my talk, I sincerely appeal to each one of us to look forward with innovative mind to acquire safe drinking water, for the greater cause of mankind.