Know your water

Hello, 

Sorry for the gaps between post. Had to replace my computer, going on many water education tours, and of course school. 

So I am posting some nice to know water terminology and definitions that are commonly associated with water conservation. 

Watershed 

A watershed is an area or region of land where water is stored before it drains into a larger body of water such as an ocean, river or lake. This water can also seep into the soil, replenish the groundwater. Watersheds, therefore, have a direct relationship with the hydrologic cycle because they manage the water that eventually becomes part of our water supply.

Surface Water

Rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, wetlands and oceans are all examples of surface water. Continually replenished by precipitation or rain runoff, surface water is a body of water easily seen as it flows downhill to where it collects.

Groundwater 

Only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater, and groundwater accounts for almost 2% of that total. In the United States, nearly half of the population depends on groundwater for all of their water needs. Groundwater is water that has seeped below the Earth’s surface. Before seeping into sand, gravel and rock, most groundwater begins its journey to Earth as precipitation. A small portion of groundwater seeps into the soil from rivers, lakes and streams.

Aquifers

Unlike a body of surface water, groundwater seeps beneath the surface of the earth and collects in the gaps between pieces of rock and soil. These unique, naturally forming storage spaces are called aquifers. The amount of usable water that collects within an aquifer depends on the aquifer’s porosity (the amount of space available for water storage) and its permeability (how freely the water can move through the soil and rock).

Wells

Groundwater is brought to the surface by wells. A well is simply a hole in the ground that extends past the water table (the top surface of the groundwater).

Spreading Grounds

 The spreading grounds allow water from various sources to seep artificially down into the  Basin Aquifer. 

Wetlands

An area of land that is wet for the year is referred to as a wetland. Historically, wetlands were viewed as areas with little value and were often drained with the idea of making the land more productive.

Freshwater Wetlands

Swamps, marshes, and bogs are all freshwater wetlands. Swamps are wet or dry for periods of time throughout the year and can support a variety of trees and bushes. Marshes are wet throughout the year and are usually found at the edges of rivers, lakes and ponds. Marshes usually support a variety of grasses and other soft-stemmed plants. 

Saltwater Wetlands

Saltwater wetlands include mangrove swamps, saltwater marshes, and estuaries. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical areas, such as the Everglades in Florida, the Caribbean, Panama, Indonesia and the Philippines. A mangrove is a species of saltwater tolerant tree or shrub. Saltwater marshes are wet throughout the year and are found at the edges of saltwater bodies of water. Like their freshwater counterparts, saltwater marshes support a variety of grasses and other soft-stemmed plants. Estuaries are located where a river empties into an ocean or sea. The water in an estuary is a blend of fresh and saltwater. The salinity (saltiness) of the water depends on how far it is from the open ocean.

Water Recycling 

Water recycling offers resource and financial savings. Wastewater treatment can be tailored to meet the water quality requirements of a planned reuse. Recycled water for landscape irrigation requires less treatment than recycled water for drinking water (hopefully).

Methods of treatment 

Similar to how nature can clean dirty water and make it usable again, modern treatment facilities use similar processes to clean wastewater. The four major wastewater cleaning components are:

1. Pretreatment: Metal screens are used to remove large objects and chunks of debris when water passes through.
2. Primary treatment: Gravity is used to cause solid matter to settle to the bottom of large basins.
3. Secondary treatment: Microorganisms are added to digest any remaining pollutants. Air is also added to speed up digestion. After the microorganisms have “eaten,” they settle to the bottom of large basins.
4. Tertiary treatment: Remaining small solid particles are mixed with a chemical to form larger particles called floc. The floc is then trapped in filters containing anthracite coal and sand. Chlorine or another type of disinfectant is added to water to ensure that the water is safe before being released back to into the environment through a network of underground pipelines. The recycled water pipelines are separate from drinking water pipelines.

Desalination Process

The process of removing salt from ocean water is called desalination. And the salt removed is measured in parts per million (ppm). Ocean water typically contains 35,000 ppm of salt. Tap water typically contains about 500 ppm, but after the desalination process, it only contains about 350 ppm of salt. While there are a few ways of desalting water, the latest technology employs microfiltration and reverse osmosis.

And of course 

Stormwater

The runoff generated when precipitation from rain and snowmelt events flows over land or impervious surfaces without percolating into the ground.

Stormwater Capture

Stormwater that is either infiltrated into the ground or stored and used in place of by water supplier. 

Direct Use Stormwater

Captured stormwater that is used in place of water supplied by water supplier.

On-site capture

Distributed stormwater capture program consisting of projects designed to capture runoff generated from a single property.