Fresh Clean Water in Canada

Introduction

Fresh clean water in Canada is so plentiful that we rarely think about all the steps that it goes through to reach us. Where does this water come from? How does it get to the taps in our houses? How do we keep it clean? Why is it important to conserve water? Here, we explore these questions, and more.

The Hydrological Cycle

Chances are that the water you drink is the same water that a dinosaur used to quench its thirst. Over hundreds of millions of years, the amount of available water on Earth has stayed almost constant; relatively little water has been added to or disappeared from our planet. Instead, it has simply changed forms and locations during that time. It has moved through the hydrologic cycle.

Five processes Ð'- evaporation and transpiration, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and condensation Ð'- make up the hydrologic cycle. Evaporation and transpiration releases water from bodies of water and living beings into the atmosphere, where it condenses to form clouds. Under the right conditions, water returns to the earth in the form of snow and rain Ð'- precipitation. Water then infiltrates the soil, or flows through rivers to the ocean as runoff. Then, the hydrologic cycle begins again.

Rivers, lakes, oceans, and clouds can move water across many thousands of kilometres. This means that it can transport pollutants from one place to another, and pick up pollutants along the way, too.

Sources of Water

Ancient civilizations recognized the importance of access to water for agricultural, industrial, and household use. Some of the most powerful civilizations in history prospered because of ready access to water.

Therefore, early peoples established their settlements by sources of water whenever possible. Whenever they could not settle near sources of water, they built aqueducts and canals to bring water to their villages, towns, and cities.

majority of the water used in our cities still comes directly from nearby lakes and rivers. Networks of pipes pump water from these sources to our homes. In rural areas, people tend to rely more on wells. Tanker trucks or other means must transport water to more remote areas of the continent

Water Quality

Having easy access to adequate amounts of water is important. Access to adequate amounts of clean water is even more important for health and other reasons.

Ancient Greek and Sanskrit text mention methods to improve the appearance, taste, and smell of drinking water in 4000 BC. These methods included filtering water through charcoal, boiling it, and exposing it to sunlight. The ancient Egyptians used a chemical Ð'- alum Ð'- to settle particles of pollution out of water as early as 1500 BC.

Disease was also linked with drinking murky water, or living near bodies of dirty water. However, it was not until the mid- to late 19th century that scientists like Louis Pasteur and John Snow made a clear link between dirty water and diseases like cholera.

Today, the principles behind water purification remain much the same. Modern water treatment plants still filter water through sand, charcoal, or other materials to remove natural organic matter, microorganisms, dirt, and certain toxic metals. Some plants still use alum and other chemicals to settle out particles from water in a process called flocculation or coagulation.

New technologies have also emerged to get rid of chemicals, particles, and disease-causing microorganisms that cannot be removed by filtering and flocculation. Ion exchange and adsorption technologies remove particles and chemicals that filtering or flocculation cannot take out from water. Small amounts of chlorine added to water keeps it free from disease-causing microorganisms as it moves through pipes from the water treatment plant to your tap.

we draw water from rivers and lakes before purifying it. This water is then distributed to our homes through complex networks of pipes. Once we have used the water and let it go down the drain, the municipal sewage system returns the wastewater to treatment plants, which re-purify the water before returning it to either the municipal water supply or a body of water.

Water treatment plants and the government organizations that monitor water treatment and water quality must therefore work harder to keep up with demand for clean water. For those living in rural or remote areas, this means that the groundwater sources (such as wells) that they use may dry up faster.

Unfortunately, the low cost of water in Canada means that there is less money for these activities. This can lead to breakdowns in the system that treats and supervises the treatment of water, as was the case in Walkerton, Ontario in 2000. There, over 2300 people became ill and seven people died when Escherichia Coli bacteria contaminated the town's water supply. The inquiry found