| Headline | Paragraph |
| What is done about water pollution? Natural pollution of water. Human activity as a source of pollution Does pure water exist at all? |
Say whether the following statements are true or false. Give the paragraph number to show where the information comes from. Correct the false statements.
1. Pure water consists of two parts oxygen and one part hydrogen.
2. Pure water is useful for plants and animals.
3. Sulphur compounds in the Bear Creek area of northern Alabama give water a bad taste.
4. Natural occurrences and large population of wild animals can cause severe pollution of lakes and streams.
5. Pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture do not pollute water supplies.
6. Many thousands of pounds have been spent on facilities that reduce the pollution caused by human activity
7. The operation of dams and reservoirs causes problems for fish and other aquatic life downstream.
WRITING
5. What elements are expressed by the following chemical formulas?
O2 – Mn –
H – S –
Fe –
Read the text again and complete the following table.
| Sources of natural water pollution | Sources of manmade water pollution |
Complete the following table of the corresponding nouns and verbs. Use a dictionary if needed.
| Nouns | Verbs |
| solution ? pollution occurrence ? ? waste activity treatment ? | ? to contain ? ? to build to smell ? ? ? to taste |
Use the words from the box to fill in the gaps
| ecological submarine contamination life cycle ecosystem sewage resources starfish sea bed |
The vulnerability of the White Sea _____1_____ is highlighted by the following fact. In the early 1990s, hundreds or may be even thousands of tons of ___2____ and other marine life were washed ashore at the Dvina Bay, forming an orange wall that extended for dozens of kilometers along the surf edge. Ecologists cited possible causes of disaster: leakage of mustard gas containers that had been buried in the _____3_____ in the 1940s; the sinking of a ____4_____ near the city Severodvinsk in December 1989; a tanker accident in the Kandalaksha Bay; the fall of a rocket; radioactive or chemical ____5____ of the water area, and the dumping of ____6____.
New studies showed that only one-tenth of starfish living in shallow water had been killed, which could not be described as an _____7_____ disaster. It was simply part of a natural maritime ____8____. The amount of starfish thrown on the shore by storm points to the richness of the marine ____9____.
- Prepare 5-7 min. talk about types of water pollution and measures our country is taking to deal with. Use information from the text and on-line resources.
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
WATER RESOURCES: A GLOBAL CRISIS
SPEAKING
Opinion survey
Talk about “the world’s biggest water problem in the future”. You should select an answer from the table below. Summarize the results of the survey completing the table below. Share the results with your group mates and the teacher.
| Problem | We will not have enough water | Water will be too polluted | Drinking water will be unsafe | Water systems (infrastructure) will break down | There won’t be major water problems |
| Student 1 | |||||
| Student 2 | |||||
| Student 3 | |||||
| Etc. | |||||
| Total |
2. Skim through the article from the on-line magazine and say under what headline the author:
a. Mentions the recommended basic water requirement per person per day;
b. States that 97% of liquid freshwater is stored underground;
c. Predicts that by 2025 two thirds of the worlds people will be facing water stress;
d. Describes diseases caused by dirty water;
e. Dwells upon the usage of water in the world;
f. Remarks that water is not distributed evenly over the Earth’s surface;
g. Touches upon the problem of water pollution;
h. Thinks that malaria is the biggest killer;
i. Doubts that there is any progress as far as water supply sanitation provision are concerned.
WATER CRISIS ALREADY HERE
BASICS
· On our blue planet 97.5% of the water is saltwater, unfit for human use.
· The majority of freshwater is beyond our reach, locked into polar snow and ice.
· Less than 1% freshwater is usable, amounting to only 0.01% of the Earth’s total water.
· Even this would be enough to support world’s population tree times over, if used with care.
· However, water – like population – isn’t distributed evenly. Asia has the greatest annual availability of freshwater and Australia the lowest. But when population is taken into account the picture looks very different. For instance, the Congo river and its tributaries account for about 30% of the entire African continent’s annual runoff, but the watershed contains only 10% of Africa’s population.
· Throughout much of the developing world freshwater supply comes in the form of seasonal rains. Such rains run off too quickly for efficient use. India, for example, gets 90% of its annual rainfall during the summer monsoon season, which lasts from June to September. For the other eight months the country gets barely a drop.
WHERE’S IT GOING
Our increasing thirst is a result of population, industrial development and the expansion of irrigated farming. In the past 40 years, the area of irrigated lands has doubled.
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World water use
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SIGNS OF STRESS
· By the mid 1990s, 80 countries home to 40% of world population encountered serious water storages. Worst affected are Africa and Middle East.
· In Metro Manila, capital of the Philippines, for instance, there was a time when the water agency issued a call for public prayer to ask Almighty God for rains to come. Even during the rainy season, supply of potable water is still inadequate.
· By 2025 two-thirds of the world’s people will be stressing water stress. The global demand for water will have grown by over 40% by then
IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH
Dirty water is the cause of numerous diseases, but improving hygiene and sanitation are equally important in order to curb water-related diseases.
| Diseases of contamination Cholera is only one of a great many water born or water-related illnesses. The diarrheal diseases alone kill about four million people a year, of whom 80% are children. Just being able to wash one’s hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhea by 35%. | Insect-related diseases Malaria, born by water breeding mosquitoes, is the biggest killer, causing about 2 million deaths a year, including more than a million young children, a large proportion of them in Africa. | Parasites Found in 76 countries schistosomiasis kills some 200.000 people every year. After a peak in the late 1980s, guinea-worm infections have been declining as water sources are better monitored. |
NEEDING AND GETTING
The recommended basic water requirement per person per day 50 litres. But people can get by with about 30 litres: 5 litres for drinking and cooking and another 25 litres to maintain hygiene. The reality for millions comes nowhere near. By contrast the average US citizen uses 500 litres per day, while the British average is 200.
| Population using the least amount of water | |
| Country | Litres of water used per person per day |
| Gambia | 4.5 |
| Mali | 8.0 |
| Somalia | 8.9 |
| Mozambique | 9.3 |
| Uganda | 9.3 |
| Cambodia | 9.5 |
| Tanzania | 10.1 |
People in rural areas are four times more likely than those in cities to have no safe supply of water. The urban poor are less likely than the well-off to be connected to mains water supplies and pay on average 12 times more per litre.
TAPPING GDOUNDWATER
Some 97% of liquid freshwater is stored underground in aquifers. People especially in rural areas, are increasingly dependent on groundwater – up to 2 billion people, a third of the world’s population, rely on it.
| Drinking groundwater | ||
| Region | % of drinking water from groundwater | People served (millions) |
| Asia | 1.000 to 2.000 | |
| Europe | 200 to 500 | |
| Latin America | ||
| United States | ||
| Australia | ||
| Africa | no data | no data |
| World | 1.500 to 2.000 |
Aquifers are most severely depleted
in parts of India, China, the US, North Africa and the Middle East. It can take centuries for aquifers to recharge, so the world is currently running from human and farm animal waste, naturally occurring toxins, as well as the over 10 million different synthetic chemicals in use today.
WRITING
