Water supply:
Water supply
system infrastructure for the collection, transmission, treatment, and storage
of water for homes, professional businesses, industry, and irrigation, as well
as for such public needs as firefighting and street flushing. Of all public
services, provision of safe and clean water is perhaps the most vital. People
depend on water for drinking, cooking, washing, carrying away waste materials,
and other domestic needs. Water systems must also meet specifications for
public, professional, and industrial activities. In all cases, water must
fulfill both quality and quantity specifications.
Development in supply systems:
Water was an
important aspect in the location of the first settled communities, and the
progress of public water supply systems is tied directly to the growth of
places. In the development water resources beyond their natural condition in
rivers, ponds, and springs, the digging of superficial wells was probably the
first innovation.
Construction of
Qantas, a slightly sloping tunnels motivated into hillsides that included
groundwater, probably originated in ancient Persia about 700 bce. From the
hillsides the water was conveyed by gravity in open channels to nearby towns or
cities.
Development in water treatment:
Water treatment
is the alteration of a water source to experience a quality that fits specified
goals. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, the
definitive goal was reduction of dangerous water-borne diseases. The treatment
of public drinking water to eliminate pathogenic, or disease-causing, harmful
bacteria began about that time. Treatments methods included sand filtration
system as well as the use of chlorine for disinfection. The virtual elimination
of diseases such as cholera and typhoid in developed countries showed the
success of this water-treatment technology.
Water Sources Demand:
Water is present
in numerous amounts on and under the Earth's surface, but less than 1 percent
of it is fluid water. Most of Earth's approximated 1.4 billion cubic km (326
million cubic miles) water is in the oceans or frozen in polar ice caps and
glaciers. Sea water contains about 35 grms per liter (4.5 ounces per gallon) of
dissolved minerals or salt, making it unsuitable for drinking and for most
commercial or agricultural uses.
