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- Rivers and people: water use, quality and supply
Rivers and people: water use, quality and supply
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Rivers supply water for drinking, farming and industry. Keeping that water clean and reliable is a major challenge.
Using water
Agriculture: irrigation and livestock.
Industry: cooling, processing and cleaning.
Hygiene and domestic: drinking, cooking, washing and sanitation.
Leisure: fishing, boating and swimming.
Demand is rising as populations and incomes grow, causing water shortages in some areas while others have a surplus.
Industry: cooling, processing and cleaning.
Hygiene and domestic: drinking, cooking, washing and sanitation.
Leisure: fishing, boating and swimming.
Demand is rising as populations and incomes grow, causing water shortages in some areas while others have a surplus.
Water quality and supply
Pollution comes from untreated sewage, fertilisers and pesticides washed off farmland (which can cause algal blooms), and industrial waste.
Water is stored in reservoirs behind dams, moved by pipelines and canals, and made safe in treatment works (filtering and adding chlorine).
Water is stored in reservoirs behind dams, moved by pipelines and canals, and made safe in treatment works (filtering and adding chlorine).
Predicting and preventing floods
Prediction: weather forecasts, river level gauges, computer models and flood warnings sent to people at risk.
Prevention: dams, embankments, flood walls and channel straightening; and softer methods such as tree planting, wetlands and preventing building on floodplains.
Prevention: dams, embankments, flood walls and channel straightening; and softer methods such as tree planting, wetlands and preventing building on floodplains.
Explain how farming can reduce river water quality.
- Fertilisers and animal waste wash off fields into rivers.
- The extra nutrients cause algae to grow rapidly.
- When the algae die and decompose, oxygen in the water falls, harming fish.
Answer: Fertiliser runoff causes algal blooms that remove oxygen.
Rivers supply water for agriculture, industry, homes and leisure. Pollution comes from sewage, fertilisers and industry. Dams, reservoirs, pipelines and treatment works store and supply water. Floods are predicted with forecasts, gauges and warnings and reduced by hard and soft engineering.
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