Stream water quality
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction
Water is a very important resource, it is one of the most vital natural resources for all life on Earth, water is a unique and clear liquid without it life is impossible. Water occurs on earth in 3 physical states; which are solid, liquid and gaseous state and in form of rain, snow and ice and it forms rivers, lakes and seas.
Water covers about 71% of the entire earth surface, yet despite its abundant deposit it is not readily available for use because of pollution especially due to human activities such as industrial, domestic and agricultural activities.
Water regardless of its quality and quantity contains plenty of freshwater on earth, water has not always been available when and where it is needed, nor is always of suitable quality for all uses. Water must be considered as a finite resource and it has both its limits and boundaries to its availability and suitability for use due to pollution.
Despite the abundance of water on earth; water has a limit to its availability, about 98% of the water on earth is found in the oceans and it is therefore unusable for drinking because of the concentration of salt as a result of salinity. About 2% of the planet’s water is fresh, out of it 1.6% of the water is locked up in glaciers and polar icecaps. Another 0.36% is found underground in wells and aquifers and the remaining 0.036% of the total supply of planet’s water is found in lakes and rivers. Compared to the thousands of trillions of gallons water available, very little is accessible, so there is need to conserve our fresh water resources.
Water is found in surface water and groundwater; in terms of surface water it is found in rivers, ponds, lakes and streams while groundwater occurs beneath the surface within the saturated zones where the hydrostatic pressure is equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure and can be found in wells and boreholes in this project and we will be dealing
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction
Water is a very important resource, it is one of the most vital natural resources for all life on Earth, water is a unique and clear liquid without it life is impossible. Water occurs on earth in 3 physical states; which are solid, liquid and gaseous state and in form of rain, snow and ice and it forms rivers, lakes and seas.
Water covers about 71% of the entire earth surface, yet despite its abundant deposit it is not readily available for use because of pollution especially due to human activities such as industrial, domestic and agricultural activities.
Water regardless of its quality and quantity contains plenty of freshwater on earth, water has not always been available when and where it is needed, nor is always of suitable quality for all uses. Water must be considered as a finite resource and it has both its limits and boundaries to its availability and suitability for use due to pollution.
Despite the abundance of water on earth; water has a limit to its availability, about 98% of the water on earth is found in the oceans and it is therefore unusable for drinking because of the concentration of salt as a result of salinity. About 2% of the planet’s water is fresh, out of it 1.6% of the water is locked up in glaciers and polar icecaps. Another 0.36% is found underground in wells and aquifers and the remaining 0.036% of the total supply of planet’s water is found in lakes and rivers. Compared to the thousands of trillions of gallons water available, very little is accessible, so there is need to conserve our fresh water resources.
Water is found in surface water and groundwater; in terms of surface water it is found in rivers, ponds, lakes and streams while groundwater occurs beneath the surface within the saturated zones where the hydrostatic pressure is equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure and can be found in wells and boreholes in this project and we will be dealing