Water

==Water is the colorless and tasteless liquid that covers about 71% of the earth. Ninety-seven percent of the water on earth is salt water and the other 3% is freshwater. Most of the freshwater is frozen at the North and South Poles. About a third of the freshwater is in rivers, streams, aquifers, and springs that are part of our drinking water. ==
 * What is water? **

==Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. The reason that we call it H2O is that there are two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in it. ==

what is the water cycle?
==The water cycle is also known as the hydrologic cycle. There is the same amount of water on the Earth now as there was when the Earth began. The water cycle is how the earth's water recycles itself. ==

==The cycle includes precipitation, evaporation, condensation, and transpiration. Earth's water keeps changing from liquid water to vapor and then back again. This cycle happens because of the sun's heat and gravity. ==

How does the Water Cycle work? Water molecules from lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, and the ocean get heated by the sun and turn into vapor that rises into the air. [evaporation]

 Plants are heated by the sun, too, and send water molecules into the air through their leaves. [transpiration]

 These water molecules form into clouds.

 When the air and the water cool, they form drops of water that fall to the earth as rain. If they are frozen, they become snow or sleet. [condensation] The vapor has changed into a liquid.

 Once the water reaches the ground, it can flow across the land until it reaches rivers, lakes, streams, or the ocean. This is surface water. It can also sink into the ground and flow with gravity through gaps in rock, gravel, and sand until it reaches these bodies of water, too. This is groundwater.

 The cycle begins again.

What kinds of water are there?
We are really talking about two sources of water when we talk about water supply. They are groundwater and surface water. We were lucky enough to visit three water companies that showed us how water supply works from both of these sources.

What is ground water?
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">Ground water is a little harder to understand than surface water because you can't actually see this water. Any water that is underground is groundwater. Half of the people in the United States use ground water for drinking water.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;"> In the water cycle, some of the precipitation sinks into the ground and goes into watersheds, aquifers and springs. The amount of water that seeps into the ground depends on how steep the land is and what is under ground. For example: places that have lots of sand underground will allow more water to sink in than ones that have lots of rock.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;"> When the water seeps down, it will reach a layer of ground that already has water in it. That is the saturated zone. The highest point in the saturated zone is called the water table. The water table can raise and lower depending on seasons and rainfall.

<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">How is water used in your home?
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">We were water spies in our homes for a week. Our goal was to find things that our families did that wasted water by using a water register. When we combined our lists, we found that our families wasted water in the following ways:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">1. 30 minute showers <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">2. Running water while you wash your face or brush your teeth. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">3. Running a washer or dishwasher that didn't have a full load. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">4. Leaving the outside hose on.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;"> There were other things like taking a full glass of water and only taking a sip. Long showers were on everyone's list. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">This helped us think of ways that we could help the Earth by saving water. Some of these are:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">1. Two words: QUICK SHOWERS! <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">2. Fix leaky things like faucets and toilets. About 20% of all toilets leak. Toilets are the biggest user of water in the house. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">3. Get a newer, water-saving toilet. You can save between 8000-21,000 gallons of water a year just by doing that. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">4. Whenever you use a dishwasher or clothes washer, make sure you have a full load. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;">5. Don't rinse your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. Most dishwashers have settings for dirtier dishes. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',sans-serif;"> 6. When you brush your teeth, turn off the water. Turn it on only when rinsing.