I wouldn't entirely call it a failed essay entry. Though I did not make the first, second or third position, I have chosen to share my entry to the NIMSA Standing Committee on Environment and Population Activities (SCOEPA) 2022 essay competition with you to fulfil the very purpose of the competition-- to inform you. I believe the message in my supposed 'failed' essay is for everyone regardless. It is in the spirit of failing, learning, and improving or falling forward that I share my entry with you. Please always feel free to chat with me in the inbox if you have any addition on the subject matter, better suggestions or critiques (constructive criticism only).
Cheers to Falling Forward
INTRODUCTION
Nature goes through a unique process to provide us with natural water. Groundwater is something that we need: humans and animals need water to survive as our bodies could not function without it. However. our society requires much more clean water than we are afforded from the water cycle. Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater—what we drink, bathe in, and irrigate our farm fields with—is incredibly rare. UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) points out that only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. Despite the World Health Organization’s Drinking-Water Quality standards that access to safe drinking water is a basic human right or component of effective policy for health protection, there are continuous losses by drought or by prevalent water pollution and contamination.
Nevertheless, research shows there is still reason for hope and fidelity in a wonderful source of water that will forever be tethered to the life and satisfaction of man like a shadow-- natural water. Everywhere and at easy reach, natural water is the hope behind the sheer cold data and statistics making rounds about the prospects of achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Natural water/Groundwater sources like rivers, streams, ponds, channels, ditches and wells make up about 30% of the world's freshwater supply, which is about 0.76% of the entire world's water. However, groundwater, a substantial reservoir of the water cycle, is the most extracted resource in the world (UNICEF, 2022).
Groundwater has unparalleled clean, fresh, colourless, tasteless and odourless, qualities that specially emanate from every detail of its formation. About 99% of the world's liquid freshwater is composed of groundwater, qualifying it as the long-awaited solution to the major problems of unclean water causing pathological diseases like cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoea that have ravaged over 2.4 million people across the world. Natural water is compensation for almost two-thirds of the world’s population experiencing severe water scarcity for at least one month each year and must be maintained and treated like the treasure it is.
EXPLORING THE NATURAL WATER CYCLE (GROUNDWATER)
If you are curious to know why water, in its liquid form, shape, structure, and composition, is considered a treasure and how this ubiquitous treasure comes around as financially empowering or pivotal in the health sector, water your eyes and hold on to these lines; you are about to discover how deep the still water runs.
Using mechanical drill rigs is one of the efficient ways of digging a well. However, for better context, this paper focuses on the expository of hand-dug wells. So, grab a shovel, stick it into the soil and scoop. Dig out the rocks, humus, grits of soil and debris, digging through every soil spore space; hack the soil profile, piercing deep into every layer: the topsoil, subsoil and bedrock. Notice the increased moisture in the soil with further depths? We are closing in on our treasure! Keep digging; a true treasure is usually more than meets the eye. As you dig faster and harder than the downward pull of gravity on our treasure, the weight of atmospheric pressure would sting as sorely as the immense labour therein. However, because your enthusiasm and drive are weightier, you would start noticing the spike in the level of humidity, porosity and liquid saturation in the soil, and with further plunges, chops, and swings of your shovel into great depths ranging from 100ft – 500ft, you will break into the confines of the superficial water table beyond which lies the bed of hard rocks. Then will you encounter the influx of our liquid treasure, clear, colourless, and fresh as it seeps through the soil strata into the confines of aquifers, and freshwater reservoirs. In that fleeting moment, appreciate the wetness of the soggy soil/mud, and the subtle cold feel it brings to your skin because you have discovered a liquid more precious than silver, diamond and gold or of better worth than black gold; a liquid whose elements combine in such unique rhythm to produce a universal solvent, an epitome of life. You have discovered the liquid treasure-- natural water.
The surface water that we can see is heated by the Sun and goes into the atmosphere as evaporation. The water vapour then creates precipitation by rainfall or snowfall, which is absorbed into the Earth and stored as groundwater in aquifers. Groundwater descends until, at some depth, it merges into a zone of dense rock. Existing groundwater can be discharged through springs, lakes, rivers, streams, or manmade wells.
IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL WATER
The Epitome of Life in the Universe
Have you ever wondered why the discovery of traces of water on Mars sparked great excitement? It is because water is the first indication that life exists. According to an article on the Harvard University blog site, much of the universe's waters, groundwater and surface water are produced as byproducts of star formation. The favourable reactions and circumstances in the outward gust of dust and gas surrounding the formation of the earth and its positioning in the habitable zone of the solar system propagated the existence of liquid water, and to a lesser extent its gaseous and solid forms. From a biological standpoint, water has many distinct properties that are critical for the proliferation of life. All known forms of life depend on the three states of water directly or indirectly, including the fresh and filtrated form of groundwater emanating from the natural water cycle.
Following Carl Sagan’s famous claim that “We’re made of star stuff” it is said that all matter including humans is made of stardust. The other constituent is water. Science tells us that our adult bodies contain between 50 and 70 % of water. Most of that water sits inside cells. Another part occupies the intercellular space, serving as a reserve for cells and blood vessels. The rest is contained in the blood and lymph and circulates continuously throughout the body. Water builds and feeds cells, carrying nutrients and proteins in our bloodstream and removing toxins from the liver and kidneys. Water is needed in different parts of the body according to specific needs. On average, the adult brain and heart hold approximately 75% of water, the lungs 80%, the skin 65%, muscles, and the kidneys 80%, and even bones contain roughly 25% water (K&P Sembuligan, 2012; Physiology Textbook, sixth Edition).
As the old saying goes, indeed, water is the best medicine. The polar structure of the molecules makes it an excellent solvent for inorganic substances. Possessing a slightly positive charge on the hydrogen atoms and a slightly negative charge on the oxygen atoms, groundwater can dissolve a wide range of ionic solutes including mineral salts, acids and bases, sugar and organic liquids like alcohol and glycerol. The resultant solutions have multiple uses in our daily activities and significant biochemical and physiological functions in the human body (Osef Ababio, 2007).
Water performs various key mechanical functions including acting as a thermostat and regulating body temperature, absorbing shocks for the brain and spine and lubricating joints. The brain also needs water to manufacture hormones and neurotransmitters (The Guardian, 2020). The list goes on to include the fundamental role of water in metabolism-- anabolism and catabolism. While anabolism water is removed from molecules (through energy requiring enzymatic chemical reactions) to grow larger molecules (e.g., starches, triglycerides, and proteins for storage of fuels and information), catabolism, uses water to break bonds to generate smaller molecules (e.g. glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids) to be used for fuels for energy use or other purposes) (Molly Sargen and Daniel Utter, 2019).
SOLUTIONS TO THE DEPLETION OF WATER
Water depletion is a serious threat to the environment. Our bodies and the Earth are made up of water. We may see the beautiful, flowing surface waters that make up the oceans, lakes and rivers, but this water is not always safe for consumption and is much more difficult to filter than natural waters like groundwater. Groundwater depletion most commonly occurs because of the frequent pumping of water from the ground without room for adequate recharging and filling of aquifers; groundwater will become shallower and saltier, Consequently, food supply and people will suffer, and biodiversity will be limited. The following potential solutions to groundwater depletion can be sought to prevent and remedy these problems:
· Safety and water contamination control: Contamination of natural water sources, wells for instance, can occur if they are located near farming lands where certain kinds of chemicals are applied to crops, or near a gas station that has a leaking storage tank. Leakage from septic tanks and/or waste-disposal sites can also contaminate groundwater. A septic tank can introduce bacteria to the water. Pesticides and fertilizers that seep into farmed soil can eventually end up in water drawn from a well. Or a well might have been placed on land that was once used for something like a garbage or chemical dump site. In any case, it is wise to prevent and correct all scenarios.
Safety measures to abate natural water pollution, contraction and spread of diseases include protecting potential groundwater sources such as landfills by lining the bottom of a landfill with watertight materials and keeping rainwater off any potential contaminants, along with regular monitoring of nearby groundwater to verify that contaminants have not leaked into the groundwater. Regulations in both state and federal law should be in place to minimize the pollution of groundwater (WHO’s Drinking-Water Quality standards).
· As individuals, one of the things we can do to make a difference is to use less water for luxury purposes.
· Detoxifying chemical-laden water from industries and private residences that run into larger bodies of water and absorb into the ground, poisoning animals, and the soil. Using fewer chemicals and guided disposal should be encouraged amongst users.
· The pumping of groundwater should be regulated: Stricter Laws should be in place for the pumping of groundwater, following specific regulations and executions.
· More comprehensive research and additional funding can help with groundwater depletion: Additional funding should be given to support initiatives that not only study the supply of groundwater we have, but also seek to find sustainable ways to set limits and better policies for water usage.
CONCLUSION
The relationship between the human cycle/existence and the water cycle is mutually dependent. As the sensible and intelligent specie in the picture, the onus is on us (humans) to determine the negativity or positivity of this relationship, bearing in mind that all index, by the message of this paper, points to the fundamental value of groundwater and why it should be treated as a sacred treasure.
REFERENCES
Are we Running out of Water?; The Guardians; https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/18/are-we-running-out-of-water
Encyclopedia Britannica; https://www.britannica.com/topic/artesian-well
Groundwater, National Geographic Society retrieved on 12th March 2022 from the website: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/groundwater/
K and Prema Sembuligan (2012), Essentials of Medical Physiology Textbook, Sixth Edition
Molly Sargen and Daniel Utter (September 29, 2019; Biological Roles of Water: Why Water is Necessary for Life?; Harvard University); https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/uncategorized/2019/biological-roles-of-water-why-is-water-necessary-for-life
Osef Yaw Ababio (January 1, 2007); New School Chemistry for Senior Secondary School
Water scarcity; Addressing the growing lack of available water to meet children’s needs UNICEF Retrieved on 12th March 2022 https://www.unicef.org/wash/water-scarcity
WHO’s Drinking-Water Quality standards (GDWQ); derived on12th March 2022 from website: https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/water-sanitation-and-health/water-safety-and-quality/drinking-water-quality-guidelines