It is important for us to know just what the water cycle is and how it works, especially seeing as how our very lives actually depend on it and without understanding it we could destroy it.
The water cycle is basically just the continuous movement of water in and around the Earth. You see, there is exactly the same amount of water on earth as there ever was, because water never really disappears; it just changes shape.
The entire water cycle is driven by the sun, which is also responsible for water’s two major components: condensation and evaporation. The sun heats the surface water, and the subsequent evaporation ends up in the atmosphere as water vapour where it cools and rises, forming clouds which eventually condense into water droplets that fall to earth as rain, sleet, hail or snow, depending on the temperature of the atmosphere.
Some of this precipitation is captured by tree canopies, from whence it again evaporates into the atmosphere while other makes it to the ground where it becomes runoff that accumulates and freezes into snow caps or glaciers, or makes its way back into lakes and oceans, where it is again evaporated by the sun.
Precipitation that reaches the ground and does not become runoff will accumulate and end up being stored in underground aquifers, which are large deposit of groundwater that can be extracted and used as drinking water.
Groundwater, which is the major source of our drinking water, can accumulate in aquifers over thousands of years. There are two types of aquifers:
- Unconfined Aquifers are where the where the water pressure equals atmospheric pressure and the water table or the surface acts as their upper boundaries;
- Confined Aquifers have a layer of rock or other materials as their upper boundaries and are often situated beneath unconfined aquifers.
Water is vital to human life, and it is up to us not to interfere with the water cycle, which means not chopping down trees and looking after our rivers and oceans so that they can play their part.
Get bottled water coolers and mains fed water coolers from Living-Water. Rent water coolers and purchase water coolers for your home and office.
