Importance Of Water
Water is essential for life. A person can live without food for several weeks, but without water, life cannot last for more than a few days. The bodies of all plants and animals have large amounts of water. Several life processes in human beings and animals, such as digestion of food, absorption of nutrients by the body, distribution of nutrients to various parts of the body, or getting rid of body wastes, need the presence of water.
About 70 per cent of the human body consists of water. We take in water through food and drinking and lose it in the form of urine, sweat and exhaled air. Water also helps to control our body temperature. In hot weather, we drink a lot of water.
This maintains our body temperature within reasonable limits. Water that evaporates from the surface of our body in the form of sweat takes away a lot of heat and thus, cools the body.
In plants, water is essential for germination of seeds and their growth as well. It also helps to transport nutrients from the soil, and food from the leaves to different parts of the plants. Plants use water, along with carbon dioxide from the air, to make food in the presence of sunlight. You already know that this process is called photosynthesis.
Plants take in water from the soil through their roots. Our food contains a lot of water.
Besides being essential for life, water is very useful to us in many other ways. It is essential for cooking and washing and for generating electricity.
A large amount of water is used in agriculture and industries. Water is also used as a medium for transport.
Water also serves as home for several plants and anitials, Water does not heat up or cool down as fast as land. This helps to control temperature and enables water-plants and animals to survive in very hot or cold conditions.
Water, like air, is the most abundantly available substance on the earth. It fills the seas, rivers and lakes which cover more than three-fourths of the earth surface. It also exists as snow and ice on mountains. Water is also found within the earth’s crust. In the atmosphere, water is present in huge quantities as vapours or clouds.
Water is a natural resource so long as man does not disrupt the water cycle. Urbanization and industrialization are polluting water continuously. Most of water, being supplied in cities is unfit for drinking. The day is not away, when potable water will be difficult to obtain. We must take special precautions to consume and preserve water. Water is everlasting renewable natural resource. It could be conserved and used wisely.