The Particle as It Travels through the Water Cycles - Essay Example

A water droplet/particle as it travels through the water cycle and urban water cycle We are familiar with the fact that how water is cycling around above and through the earth, continuously changing form from liquid water to water vapors and then ice. The water cycle is considered to be the natural water cycle, if the continuous movement of water occurs between the land, river, ocean and atmosphere. In order to study water cycle in detail one may follow the water droplet as it moves all the way through the water cycle. The study of the water droplet can begin at any point in the water cycle; however ocean can be the best place to start form as it occupies most of the earth’s water. The heat from the sun warms the water droplet present on the surface of the ocean, evaporates it and turns it into a water vapor. It rises up into the air and continues to rise until strong wind grabs the water vapor and takes it hundreds of miles away from the ground. The warm wind rising from the surface of the earth takes the water droplet higher, where the temperature of the wind is much cooler(Natural Water Cycle). When the temperature of the water vapor decreases it change back into water droplet. This process is called condensation. If the wind is cold enough the water vapor turns into ice crystal, like the one that forms cirrus cloud. The water vapor then condenses on the particles of smoke, salt crystal or dust, in order to become the part of the cloud. Later the droplet combines with the other droplet and forms a much bigger droplet which may fall on the earth as precipitation. The gravitational force helps to pull this comparatively large water droplet towards the surface. Once the water droplet starts falling on the surface there are many places where it may fall. It may fall on the leaf of the tree from where it may be headed towards the cloud for being a part of the water cycle again. The natural water cycle is considered to be important for the life on earth and is taking place for billions of years. It is fact that the water we consume today has also been used by dinosaurs millions of years ago but yet it has been cleansed many times since then(The Water Cycle). If the water droplet misses the leaf, there are still a number of places where it may land. For example the water droplet may also land on the patch of dry dirt present in a flat field. If the water droplet lands on a field then it may sink in the ground and then start its journey as groundwater. The drop then continues to move as ground water; however its journey ends when it finds its way out of the ground. The drop can also be pumped out from the ground through the well for spraying it on the crops, where it either evaporates or move back into the ground. The water extracted from the well may end up in anyone’s drinking bottle or may be used for washing a car. From these places the water may either evaporate or it may be send into the sewer which fall into the river and eventually reach back to the ground or the ocean where the evaporation process may start again. The water from the plants may also evaporate and join the water cycle. This process is called the transpiration(Follow a Drop Through the Water Cycle). Urban Water Cycle The urban water cycle is the journey of the water droplet from the time when it gets collected to be used by the urban community to the time when it again becomes the part of water cycle. There is a need of a reliable supply of fresh water for every community. During the middle age, water well was present in the middle of each village. People collected water from these wells and used buckets to carry it to their homes. The pipes were first introduced by the Romans for transporting water into the buildings. The Roman also built drains for carrying out the sewage. However this practice did not gain any popularity across the world for many centuries. At that time epidemics like cholera and thyroid resulted from the lack of access of people to clean water or poor sanitation practices. Such diseases still exists in many of the countries and are considered to be the result of low quality supplies of water and poor sanitation practices. It was at the time of the industrial revolution that people learned to supply water in large quantities to towns and cities. Scientific knowledge and modern medical has helped human to improve the provision of clean and safe water. These developments had led to the advancements of man-made water cycle called the urban cycle(The Urban Water Cycle). Before the creation of the modern water supply system, people collected water by the help of buckets. Today almost all the advance cities use pipes from moving water from one place to the other. Water that we get in our taps has travelled a long way to get there. When the rain falls on the surface of the earth most of the water gets absorbed into the ground while the other runs into the reservoir and river. The water that has been used by homes and businesses finds its way through many pipes and ends up in the sewerage of the city. A complex treatment process is used by these plants for removing the toxic substances present in the water. After the removal of the toxic substance, the water cleansed and is dumped into the sea, where it began it journey towards the water cycle. Some proportion of this cleansed water may also be used in parks, farms and golf courses. However humans are aware of the fact that they cannot rely on rainfall for acquiring fresh drinking water; therefore it must be stored in some form and must be delivered when needed. There is also the need of cleansing polluted water before it is consumed by people(The urban water cycle). The water vapor in some of the cases stays on the land. Precipitation occurs when the water droplet stays on the surface of the earth and becomes the part of the surface water. If the water droplet lands on any of the urban area; there are chances that it may land in gutter, on the roof of a house or on a driveway. A lot of water found on the surface can be used for the purpose of irrigation. It can also be used by the power-production facilities for lowering the temperature of their electrical equipment. From there the water may enter into the cooling tower and then gets evaporate. The water found on the surface may also be pumped into a water tank where it may help in fighting fire, watering tomatoes, washing dishes or flushing the toilet. There are chances that the drop can be grabbed by the steel mill or it can be used to mop the floor of some fancy restaurant. There are hundreds of possibilities where the water may end up; however it does not matter to the water droplet because it will eventually find its way back to the environment from where it will continue its journey towards the cloud and may be this time it will end up in the glass of any President. Work Cited Follow a Drop Through the Water Cycle. 2013. 30 September 2014 . Natural Water Cycle. 2013. 30 September 2014 . The urban water cycle. 2013. 30 September 2014 . The Urban Water Cycle. 2014. 30 September 2014 . The Water Cycle. 2014. 30 September 2014 . Read More