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Portal:Water
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Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. About 1.460 petatonnes (Pt) (1021kilograms) of water covers 71% of the Earth's surface, mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Saltwater oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%. Some of the Earth's water is contained within water towers, biological bodies, manufactured products, and food stores. Other water is trapped in ice caps, glaciers, aquifers, or in lakes, sometimes providing fresh water for life on land.
Water moves continually through a cycle of evaporation or transpiration (evapotranspiration), precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Winds carry water vapor over land at the same rate as runoff into the sea, about 36 Tt per year. Over land, evaporation and transpiration contribute another 71 Tt per year to the precipitation of 107 Tt per year over land. Clean, fresh drinking water is essential to human and other life. However, in many parts of the world - especially developing countries - there is a water crisis, and it is estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability. Water plays an important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of freshwater is consumed by agriculture.
The water cycle—technically known as the hydrologic cycle—is the circulation of water within the earth's hydrosphere, involving changes in the physical state of water between liquid, solid, and gas phases. The hydrologic cycle refers to the continuous exchange of water between atmosphere, land, surface and subsurface waters, and organisms. In addition to storage in various compartments (the ocean is one such "compartment"), the multiple cycles that make up the earth's water cycle involve five main physical actions: evaporation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow:
... the the National Rural Water Association represents more than 26,242 water and wastewater utility members.
...that "water bears" are small, segmented animals that can survive in a dehydrated state for nearly 10 years?
...that there are at least 15 different forms of crystalline ice?
...that Water memory is a controversial homeopathic concept, which holds that water is capable of containing "memory" of particles dissolved in it?
...that there are more particles in a glass of water then grains of sand on earth?
- UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme photo library
- FAO Media Archive searchable by region and keyword
- The UK Collection of Freshwater Sites
- HyDis - Hydrologic Data and Information System GIS maps
- Water Science Picture Gallery from U.S. Geological Survey
- FAO Water Multimedia Gallery featuring animations and videos
- Euro Aquae Portal, Serving the water community provides a user-based contribution of news, research developments as well as job opportunities in English.
- The Source Water and Sanitation News Service provides news in English, French and Spanish with an emphasis on rural and peri-urban areas in developing countries
- UNESCO Water Portal and weekly newsletter
- Global Water News Watch, from SAHRA in Arizona USA
- U.S. Water Monitor - a portal to federal water information
- Watershed News from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- USDA Soil Conservation Service website news
- National Rural Water Association NRWA news and press releases
- International Water Portal press releases from actors in the water industry
- Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA): a comprehensive and integrated assessment of international waters in different regions.
- The 2005 Preliminary Report of the Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable (SWRR) is now available.
- India Water Portal Blog Water news, conference announcements, community postings
- Invite water experts to contribute their information.
- Add your expert knowledge for your local river at WikiProject_Rivers.
- Help rotate/refresh the three items in the "Did you know?" box.
- Expand articles on local lakes at WikiProject Lakes
- Write or improve an article on a country whose water sector you know well at Category:Water supply and sanitation by country
- Can you add something about water footprint?
- Aquatic organisms
- Aqueducts
- Bathing
- Drinking water
- Forms of water
- Hydrography
- Hydrology
- Irrigation
- Lakes
- Limnology
- Plumbing
- Reservoirs
- Water chemistry
- Water management authorities
- Water sports
- Watersheds
- Water supply and sanitation by country
See Category:Water for complete list.
- WikiProject Rivers is a WikiProject which aims primarily to describe the Earth's rivers in a consistent and complete fashion. The parent of this WikiProject is the WikiProject Geography.
- WikiProject Water and sanitation provides information on water purification.
- WikiProject Lakes describes the Earth's lakes. The project aims to consolidate and unify pages relating to lakes around the world.
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity
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