Water is a colourless, transparent and odourless liquid which forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms. It is a chemical compound whose formula is H2O. It covers 71% of the earth’s surface and is necessary for every known organism to live. 97% of the total water found on the earth lies in the oceans. The rest of water is in the form of glaciers and ice caps (2.1%), ground water (0.6%), inland water (0.2%) and water vapours (0.001%). Water is neutral to litmus. Its freezing point is 00C and melting point is 1000C. It is also regarded as “Universal solvent”. The importance of water is undeniable.
Fish is the queen of water, whose life is water;
It is scared of the touch and out of water it shall perish
This is not just true for fish, but for any life on the earth. The biosphere with its fauna and flora owes its existence to water. In the solar system it is only our earth that is credited with water, that too just 1% of the entire water, that is potable. It is therefore a gift and a coincidence, too. Although water is regarded as one of the most important chemical compounds, yet the world is facing severe problems related to it especially for drinking purposes. On one side 71 % of earth’s surface is covered by water and on the other hand, people are facing problems off its shortage. Man has therefore a great responsibility to sustain and protect this treasure for our environment in general and the all important life on the planet in particular.