Water is a familiar and unusual substance. It accompanies every moment of our life. There is no substance on Earth more important for us than ordinary water, and at the same time there is no other substance whose properties would have as many oddities (anomalies) as its properties.

There are different types of water: liquid, solid and gaseous; fresh and salty; free and bound.

Water is the source of life on Earth. Without water, the existence of all living things is impossible. Almost ¾ of the surface of our planet is occupied by oceans and seas. Solid water – snow and ice – covers 20% of the land. The climate of the planet depends on water. The earth would have cooled long ago and turned into a lifeless piece of stone, if not for the water.

But this is not the only reason why we consider water a vital substance. The fact is that the human body consists of almost 2/3 water.

When we get up early in the morning and turn on the water tap, we don’t think about how water gets into our house and where it comes from. Why does it never end in the river? And how does water get into clouds and clouds, which then falls on us as rain or snow?

I was interested in the question of the role of water in human life and all living things on earth, and in this work I tried to answer these and many other interesting questions.

The project was carried out with the aim of proving the importance of water in human life and the world around him.

Water is the basis of life on earth.

Very often we hear the phrase “Water is life!”

We use water for washing, making tea and food, doing laundry, washing our hands and taking a shower, washing floors, and cleaning our homes. We hear this word many times throughout the day. What do we know about her?

Water is the basis and source of life on Earth. Water is the most common substance in nature: the hydrosphere occupies 71% of the Earth's surface.

Water plays a vital role in the geological history of the planet.

Without water, the existence of almost all living organisms is impossible.

It is an essential component of all technological processes. High-purity water is used in the production of food and medicine, semiconductors and phosphors, in medicine, and in chemical analysis.

A person is 60-70% water. Water delivers nutrients to the cells of organs and tissues and removes decay products from them. Water is involved in the processes of thermoregulation and respiration.

2. 1. The water cycle in nature.

Water in nature is in a constant cycle. Water evaporates from the surface of plants, soil, reservoirs, accumulates in the atmosphere, concentrates and, having passed a certain limit, falls in the form of precipitation, replenishing the water reserves of oceans, rivers, lakes, etc.

Thus, the amount of water on planet Earth does not change.

Water changes its form: liquid - gaseous - solid - liquid - this is the water cycle in nature.

80% of all precipitation that falls ends up in the ocean. Of greatest interest is the remaining 20%, which falls on land.

Simply put, water that falls on land has two paths.

Or, collecting in streams and rivers, it ends up in lakes and reservoirs - the so-called open (or surface) water intake sources.

Or water, seeping through the soil and subsoil layers, replenishes groundwater reserves.

Surface and groundwater constitute the two main sources of water supply. Both of these water resources are interconnected and have both their advantages and disadvantages as a source of drinking water.

Conditions of water.

It is known that water can exist in three different states such as solid, liquid or gas. Clouds, snow and rain represent different states of water.

A snowflake is a collection of tiny ice crystals, and rain is just liquid water. The cloud consists of many water droplets and ice crystals

Water gas is water vapor in the atmosphere that we see from the ground as clouds. Clouds form at different altitudes and therefore have different appearances and shapes. Depending on this, clouds are divided into stratus, cirrus, cumulus, etc.

Water in a gaseous state is called water vapor.

Water can change from one state to another: from solid to liquid (melt), from liquid to solid (freeze), from liquid to gaseous (evaporate), from gaseous to liquid, turning into droplets of water.

There are two types of liquid water on the planet's surface: salty and fresh.

Salt water is found in the seas and oceans, fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, streams, reservoirs, and swamps.

Groundwater can be either fresh or salty.

Salty groundwater is called mineral water.

The area of ​​seas and oceans on Earth is many times greater than the area of ​​all rivers, lakes, swamps and reservoirs combined. Therefore, there is many times more salt water on our planet than fresh water.

Solid water can be found in the form of snow and ice. Ice on Earth is found in glaciers; glaciers can be mountain glaciers or cover glaciers.

Mountain glaciers are located on the highest mountain peaks, where, due to low temperatures throughout the year, the snow that falls does not have time to melt. The largest glaciers are located in the Caucasus, Himalaya, Tien Shan, and Pamir mountains.

Cover glaciers cover the territory of an island or mainland almost completely. The largest sheet glaciers are located in Antarctica and Greenland.

Water in human life.

Water, despite its simple structure - two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen, is the basis of life on planet Earth. That is why scientists, when exploring other planets, look for traces of water as a source of life forms.

A person is constantly in contact with water in the process of life.

Water can be divided into two main groups.

None of the living organisms on our planet can exist without water.

Plants are 90% water. All living plant and animal beings consist of water: fish - 75%; jellyfish – 99%; potatoes - by 76%; apples - by 85%; tomatoes - 90%; cucumbers - by 95%; watermelons - by 96%.

Water itself has no nutritional value, but it is an essential part of all living things.

In general, the human body consists of 50 - 86% water by weight (86% in a newborn and up to 50% in older people). An adult human consists of 60 - 65% water. The water content in various parts of the body is: bones - 20-30%; liver - up to 69%; muscles – up to 70%; brain – up to 75%; kidneys - up to 82%; blood – up to 85%.

Throughout his life, a person deals with water every day. He uses it for drinking and food, for washing, in the summer for rest, in the winter for heating. For humans, water is a more valuable natural resource than coal, oil, gas, iron, because it is irreplaceable.

Water delivers nutrients (vitamins, mineral salts) to the body's cells and carries away waste products (slags).

In addition, water is involved in the process of thermoregulation (sweating) and in the breathing process (a person can breathe absolutely dry air, but not for long).

Water is a universal solvent of chemicals - this is the main role of water in the life of living beings. All vital processes take place in the aquatic environment.

For the existence of a living organism, a constant content of water in a certain amount is necessary. Changing the amount of water consumed and its composition can lead to disturbances in the processes of digestion, absorption of food, and bleeding. A person can live without food for about 50 days, if during a hunger strike he drinks fresh water, without water he will not live even a week - death will occur in 5 days.

Losing a large amount of water from the body is dangerous to human life. In hot areas, without water, a person can die in 5-7 days, and without food, in the presence of water, a person can live for a long time. Even in cold zones, a person needs about 1.5-2.5 liters of water per day to maintain normal performance. Water regulates the body's heat exchange with the environment and maintains body temperature.

According to medical experiments, with a loss of moisture in the amount of 6-8% of body weight, a person falls into a semi-fainting state, with a loss of 10%, hallucinations begin, with 12%, a person cannot recover without special medical care, with a loss of 20%, the inevitable death.

Consumption of water in excess quantities is also dangerous, because the cardiovascular system is overloaded, profuse sweating occurs, which leads to desalination and weakening of the body.

Daily water consumption by humans ranges from 2-4 liters per day, consumption depends on climate, work intensity, and cultural traditions.

Regular consumption of water improves thinking and coordination of the brain. The brain and the entire body will be sufficiently charged with the necessary substances if the water we drink is of high quality, that is, rich in minerals.

A healthy person should not limit himself to drinking, but it is much healthier to drink little and often.

It is very important what quality of water we consume. Water quality is affected by mineral composition, contamination, and structure.

For constant consumption and cooking, water with a total mineralization of up to 0.5-1 g/liter is required. True, for medicinal purposes it is useful to drink mineral water with high salt content in limited quantities.

It is harmful to drink a lot of liquid at once, since all the liquid is absorbed into the blood, and until its excess is removed from the body by the kidneys, the heart receives unnecessary stress.

According to some estimates, over the course of 60 years of life, a person drinks about 50 tons of water - an entire tank! By participating in metabolism, water allows you to lose weight.

If the body receives enough water, the person becomes more energetic and resilient.

Water is considered the most difficult of all substances studied by physicists and chemists. The chemical composition of waters may be the same, but their effects on the body may be different, because each water was formed under specific conditions. And if life is animate water, then just like life, water has many faces and its characteristics are endless.

Water is an essential component of all technological processes. High-purity water is used in the production of food and medicine, semiconductors and phosphors, in medicine, and in chemical analysis.

Surprisingly, water still remains the least studied substance in Nature.

Obviously, this happened because there is a lot of it, it is omnipresent, it is around us, above us, below us, in us.

And in conclusion, I would like to tell you one ancient legend:

King Dhatusena, who ruled on the island of Sri Lanka in the 5th century AD, in response to the demands of the rebels to show the hiding places where countless royal treasures were hidden, led them to the artificial lake Kalovena, which had a circumference of 80 km. The lake saved the island's inhabitants during drought. The king scooped up a handful of water and said:

“This is all my wealth!”

Water is the source of life,

There is enormous power in it,

Three quarters of the planet's surface

She took control of herself,

She also took the body of a man,

And she took the human mind,

And even a human fetus

95% taken.

We cannot live even a day without water,

We'll die of thirst without water,

And we need to protect the water

To maintain the environment!

To save water means to protect life, health, and the beauty of the world around us!

3. Conclusions.

Having studied materials on this topic, I was convinced that water is a miracle given to us by nature.

The important role of water is that it is the main element in maintaining human life, that is, it is an indispensable component of all living things. Only where there is water, there is life! There is no life if there is no water!

The hypothesis of my research was confirmed.

Indeed, water is a universal substance, without which life is impossible.

Water is one of the most important substances on Earth. Animals, people and plants cannot live without water. No one can ever do without it, and there is nothing to replace it with!

Water is an invaluable wealth that nature gives us. All living things need clean water, which means that water must be used carefully, not polluted or wasted.

4. Conclusion.

Working on this topic was a little difficult for me, but very interesting.

It was difficult because I had to read a lot, but I learned a lot of new and interesting things. I learned to work with various literature and select the necessary material.

But is it possible to tell everything about water? After all, every day we learn more and more about water.

I became convinced that everyone always needs water.

There is nothing more precious in the world than the most ordinary and familiar water!

Water - a necessary substance that is needed for the basis of life. Scientists believe that water appeared on Earth after the formation of the planet. Some theories say that this liquid came to us thanks to meteorites that were covered with ice.

It is believed that water occupies 70.8% of the Earth's surface. For this reason, our Earth is called the “Planet of Water” or “Planet of the Ocean”. The total size of the planet's surface is 510 million km2, and the ocean occupies 360 million km2. Also, do not forget about the glaciers, which cover 16.3 million km2. Swamps, land, lakes, watercourses and other wetlands now occupy about 5 million km2. Therefore, we can say that about 75% of the surface of the globe is covered with water (3/4 of the Earth is occupied by water).

Also be aware of winter snow cover. The snow cover of the Northern Hemisphere covers the largest area in winter - 59 million km2. During this period of the year, the area occupied by the hydrosphere is about 440 million km2, or more than 85% of the surface of our planet. In winter, snow falls and covers vast areas - roads, highways, streets, paths, sidewalks.

In 2002, Japanese scientists conducted an experiment in which they suggested that under the Earth, in its lower mantle, there is 5 times more water than on the surface.

• This is interesting -

How much fresh water is there on Earth?

Seas, oceans, rivers and lakes make up more than 70% of the Earth's area, the rest is land. The deepest ocean on the planet is the Pacific. The maximum depth of this giant is 11.8 km. On average, the depth of the oceans is 3800 meters.

All living things on the planet need water. Fresh water makes up only 3% of all water reserves on Earth, and 97% is salty. Today the largest fresh lakes are Onega, Baikal, Ladonezh, and Caspian. Also, precipitation is the main supplier of fresh water for the Earth.

As an expert in all kinds of household troubles, I responsibly declare: most of all the water that urgently needs to be wiped away. Especially if it's on your computer or phone. Or a stormy river floods the neighbors. In this case, it doesn’t matter what kind of water it is: fresh or salty. But I haven’t had time to spill anything yet, so I can answer the question seriously. If I don't spill my tea anywhere in the process.

Fascinating calculations

Water is everywhere. On earth, in heaven, in living organisms...

Just look at our planet. Yes, it's blue. This is all world Ocean, which takes most of the Earth's surface.

The answer is becoming somewhat obvious, but there is no need to jump to conclusions.

Let me count (just kidding, scientists have already calculated everything for us) water, which is not in the ocean. In order not to miss a drop, let’s remember its three states:

• liquid;
• hard;
• gaseous.

Liquid: inland reservoirs and swamps (with the exception of salt lakes). Somewhat moistened soil also contains water. Don't forget about groundwater.

Solid: glaciers and snow cover (seasonal and permanent).

Gaseous: cunning water from the atmosphere, which constantly flows back and forth - it will either rain or evaporate.

Impressive. But let's move on to mathematics.

So, fresh water share is about 2,5% . Of these, most are in glaciers And groundwater.

The answer is really obvious. There is more salt water than fresh water.

Different water - different uses

For humans, water is important in any form, because it is inextricably linked with all life processes on Earth.

But sea ​​water, as you know, is not suitable for drinking. And her desalination a rather labor-intensive and expensive process.

Interesting fact: cats can drink sea water.

Alain Bombard, however, proved that Human can consume small amounts salt water, when, as an experiment, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone, eating only fish and plankton along the way. But, to be honest, I would not recommend repeating his experiment.

Fresh water people use it for almost all their needs: agriculture, industry, household use and, of course, drinking. And for making tea too.

Unfortunately, and ocean, And fresh water bodies very polluted by human industrial waste. This is one of the main environmental problems modernity.

Most of our planet - 79% - is occupied by water, and even if you delve deep into the thickness of the earth's crust, you can find water in cracks and pores. In addition, all minerals and living organisms known on Earth contain water.

The importance of water in nature is great. Modern scientific studies of water make it possible to consider it as a unique substance. It participates in all physical-geographical, biological, geochemical and geophysical processes occurring on Earth, and is the driving force behind many global processes on the planet.

Water caused such a phenomenon on Earth as The water cycle - a closed, continuous process of water movement, covering all the most important shells of the Earth. The driving force behind the water cycle is solar energy, which causes water to evaporate (6.6 times more from the oceans than from land). Water entering the atmosphere is transported horizontally by air currents, condenses and, under the influence of gravity, falls to the Earth in the form of precipitation. One part of them enters lakes and the ocean through rivers, and the other goes to moisten the soil and replenish groundwater, which takes part in feeding rivers, lakes and seas.

The annual cycle involves 525.1 thousand km 3 of water. On average, 1030 mm of precipitation falls on our planet per year and approximately the same amount evaporates (in volumetric units 525,000 km 3).

The equality between the amount of water arriving on the Earth's surface with precipitation and the amount of water evaporating from the surface of the World Ocean and land over the same period of time is called water balance of our planet (Table 19).

Table 19. Water balance of the Earth (according to M.I. Lvovich, 1986)

Evaporation of water requires a certain amount of heat, which is released when water vapor condenses. Consequently, the water balance is closely related to the heat balance, while moisture circulation evenly distributes heat between its spheres, as well as regions of the Earth, which is of great importance for the entire geographical envelope.

Water is also of great importance in economic activity. It is impossible to list all the areas of human activity in which water is used: domestic and industrial water supply, irrigation, electricity generation and many others.

Leading biochemist and mineralogist academician V. I. Vernadsky noted that water stands apart in the history of our planet. Only it can exist on Earth in three states of aggregation and move from one to another (Fig. 158).

Water, found in all states of aggregation, forms the water shell of our planet - hydrosphere.

Since water is contained in the lithosphere, atmosphere and in various living organisms, it is very difficult to determine the boundaries of the water shell. In addition, there are two interpretations of the concept “hydrosphere”. In a narrow sense, the hydrosphere is the intermittent water shell of the Earth, consisting of the World Ocean and inland water bodies. The second interpretation - broad - defines it as a continuous shell of the Earth, consisting of open bodies of water, water vapor in the atmosphere and groundwater.

Rice. 158. Physical states of water

Water vapor in the atmosphere is called diffuse hydrosphere, and groundwater is called buried hydrosphere.

As for the hydrosphere in the narrow sense, most often the surface of the globe is taken as its upper boundary, and the lower boundary is drawn along the groundwater level, which is located in the loose sedimentary layer of the earth's crust.

When considering the hydrosphere in a broad sense, its upper boundary is located in the stratosphere and is very uncertain, that is, it lies above the geographical envelope, which does not extend beyond the troposphere.

Scientists claim that the volume of the hydrosphere is approximately 1.5 billion km 3 of water. The vast majority of the area and volume of water falls on the World Ocean. It contains 94% (according to other sources 96%) of the volume of all water contained in the hydrosphere. About 4% is buried hydrosphere (Table 20).

When analyzing the volumetric composition of the hydrosphere, one cannot limit oneself to one quantitative aspect. When assessing the component parts of the hydrosphere, its activity in the water cycle should be taken into account. For this purpose, the famous Soviet hydrologist, Doctor of Geographical Sciences M.I. Lvovich introduced the concept water exchange activity, which is expressed by the number of years required to completely restore the volume.

It is known that in all rivers on our planet the simultaneous volume of water is small and amounts to 1.2 thousand km 3. At the same time, channel waters are completely renewed on average every 11 days. Almost the same activity of water exchange is characteristic of the dispersed hydrosphere. But underground waters, the waters of polar glaciers and the oceans require millennia to be completely renewed. The water exchange activity of the entire hydrosphere is 2800 years (Table 21). The lowest water exchange activity at the polar glaciers is 8000 years. Since in this case slow water exchange is accompanied by the transition of water into a solid state, the masses of polar ice are preserved hydrosphere.

Table 20. Distribution of water masses in the hydrosphere

Parts of the hydrosphere		Share in world reserves, %
		from total water reserves	from fresh water reserves
World Ocean
The groundwater
Glaciers and permanent snow cover
including in Antarctica
Groundwater in the permafrost zone
including fresh lakes
Water in the atmosphere
Total fresh water reserves
Total water reserves

Table 21. Water exchange activity of the hydrosphere (but to M.I. Lvovich, 1986)

* Taking into account underground flow into the ocean, bypassing rivers: 4200 years.

Table 21. Water exchange activity of the hydrosphere (according to M.I. Lvovich, 1986)

The hydrosphere has gone through a long path of evolution, repeatedly changing in mass, the ratio of individual parts, movement of water, the ratio of dissolved gases, suspended matter and other components, changes in which are recorded in the geological record, which is far from completely deciphered.

When did the hydrosphere appear on our planet? It turns out that it existed already at the very beginning of the geological history of the Earth.

As we already know, the Earth arose approximately 4.65 billion years ago. The oldest rocks found are 3.8 billion years old. They retained the imprints of single-celled organisms that lived in bodies of water. This allows us to judge that the primary hydrosphere appeared no later than 4 billion years ago, but it accounted for only 5-10% of its modern volume. According to one of the most widespread hypotheses today, water during the formation of the Earth appeared by melting and degassing of mantle matter(from lat. negative particles de and French gas- gas) - removal of dissolved gases from the mantle. Most likely, the impact (catastrophic) degassing of mantle matter caused by the fall of large meteorite bodies to the Earth initially played a major role.

Initially, the increase in the volume of the surface hydrosphere proceeded very slowly, since a significant part of the water was spent on other processes, including the addition of water to mineral substances (hydration, from the Greek. hydro- water). The volume of the hydrosphere began to grow rapidly after the rate of release of water bound in rocks exceeded the rate of their accumulation. At the same time, there was an entry into the hydrosphere. juvenile waters(from lat. juvenilis- young) - rich waters formed from oxygen and hydrogen released from magma.

Water is still released from magma, falling onto the surface of our planet during volcanic eruptions, during the formation of the oceanic crust in stretching zones of lithospheric plates, and this will continue to happen for many millions of years. The volume of the hydrosphere now continues to increase at a rate of about 1 km 3 of water per year. In this regard, it is expected that the volume of water in the World Ocean will increase by 6-7% over the next billion years.

Based on this, until quite recently, people were confident that water supplies would last forever. But in fact, due to the rapid pace of consumption, the quantity of water is sharply reduced, and its quality has also decreased sharply. Therefore, one of the most important problems today is the organization of rational use of water and its protection.