Sources of fresh water. Fresh water reserves on Earth: approximate volumes, the problem of water shortage, interesting facts

drinking water hygienic quality

Fresh water resources exist thanks to the eternal water cycle. As a result of evaporation, a gigantic volume of water is formed, reaching 525 thousand km3 per year.

86% of this amount comes from the salty waters of the World Ocean and inland seas - the Caspian. Aralsky and others; the rest evaporates on land, half due to transpiration of moisture by plants. Every year, a layer of water approximately 1250 mm thick evaporates. Some of it falls again with precipitation into the ocean, and some is carried by winds to land and here feeds rivers and lakes, glaciers and groundwater. A natural distiller is powered by the energy of the Sun and takes approximately 20% of this energy.

Only 2% of the hydrosphere is fresh water, but it is constantly renewed. The rate of renewal determines the resources available to humanity. Most of the fresh water - 85% - is concentrated in the ice of the polar zones and glaciers. The rate of water exchange here is less than in the ocean and amounts to 8000 years. Surface waters on land renew themselves approximately 500 times faster than in the ocean. River waters are renewed even faster, in about 10-12 days. Greatest practical significance rivers have fresh waters for humanity.

Rivers have always been a source fresh water. But in modern era they began to transport waste. Waste in the catchment area flows along river beds into the seas and oceans. Most of the used river water returns to rivers and reservoirs in the form of wastewater. Still growing treatment facilities lagged behind the growth in water consumption. And at first glance, this is the root of evil. In reality, everything is much more serious. Even with the most advanced purification, including biological, all dissolved inorganic substances and up to 10% of organic pollutants remain in treated wastewater. Such water can again become suitable for consumption only after repeated dilution with clean water. natural water. And here the ratio of the absolute amount of wastewater, even purified, and the water flow of rivers is important for people.

The global water balance showed that 2,200 km of water per year is spent on all types of water use. Effluent dilution consumes almost 20% of the world's freshwater resources. Calculations for 2000, assuming that water consumption standards will decrease and treatment will cover all wastewater, showed that 30 - 35 thousand km3 of fresh water will still be required annually to dilute wastewater. This means that the world's total river flow resources will be close to exhaustion, and in many areas of the world they are already exhausted. The amount of fresh water does not decrease, but its quality drops sharply and it becomes unsuitable for consumption.

Humanity will have to change its water use strategy. Necessity forces us to isolate the anthropogenic water cycle from the natural one. In practice, this means a transition to a closed water supply, to low-water or low-waste, and then to “dry” or non-waste technology, accompanied by a sharp reduction in the volume of water consumption and treated wastewater.

Fresh water reserves are potentially large. However, in any area of the world they can be depleted due to unsustainable water use or pollution. The number of such places is growing, covering entire geographical areas. The need for water is not met in 20% of urban and 75% rural population peace. The volume of water consumed depends on the region and standard of living and ranges from 3 to 700 liters per day per person. Industrial water consumption also depends on the economic development of the area. For example, in Canada, industry consumes 84% of all water intake, and in India - 1%. The most water-intensive industries are steel, chemicals, petrochemicals, pulp and paper, and food processing. They consume almost 70% of all water spent in industry. On average, industry uses approximately 20% of all water consumed worldwide. The main consumer of fresh water is agriculture: 70-80% of all fresh water is used for its needs. Irrigated agriculture occupies only 15-17% of agricultural land, but produces half of all production. Almost 70% of the world's cotton crops depend on irrigation.

The total flow of rivers in the CIS (USSR) per year is 4,720 km3. But water resources are distributed extremely unevenly. In the most populated regions, where up to 80% of industrial production lives and 90% of land suitable for agriculture is located, the share water resources is only 20%. Many areas of the country are insufficiently supplied with water. This is the south and southeast of the European part of the CIS, the Caspian lowland, south Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, and some other areas Central Asia, south of Transbaikalia, Central Yakutia. Most endowed with water northern regions CIS, Baltic states, mountainous regions of the Caucasus, Central Asia, Sayan and Far East.

River flows vary depending on climate fluctuations. Human intervention in natural processes has already affected river flow. In agriculture most water does not return to the rivers, but is spent on evaporation and the formation of plant mass, since during photosynthesis hydrogen from water molecules passes into organic compounds. To regulate river flow, which is not uniform throughout the year, 1,500 reservoirs were built (they regulate up to 9% of the total flow). On the flow of rivers of the Far East, Siberia and the North of the European part of the country economic activity So far it has had almost no effect on humans. However, in the most populated areas it decreased by 8%, and near rivers such as Terek, Don, Dniester and Ural - by 11 - 20%. Water flow in the Volga, Syr Darya and Amu Darya has noticeably decreased. As a result, the flow of water to Sea of Azov- by 23%, to Aral - by 33%. The level of the Aral Sea dropped by 12.5 m.

When obtaining drinking water, two main groups are distinguished according to its origin: groundwater and surface water. The group of groundwaters is divided into:

1. Artesian waters. It's about about waters that rise to the surface from underground space with the help of pumps. They can lie underground in several layers or so-called tiers, which are completely protected from each other. Porous soils (especially sands) have a filtering and, therefore, cleansing effect, unlike fractured ones rocks. With appropriate long-term residence of water in porous soils, artesian water reaches average soil temperatures (8-12 degrees) and is free from microbes. Due to these properties (almost constant temperature, good taste, sterility) artesian water is especially preferred for drinking water supply purposes. The chemical composition of water generally remains constant.
2. Infiltration water. This water is extracted by pumps from wells, the depth of which corresponds to the bottom marks of a stream, river or lake. The quality of such water is largely determined surface water in the watercourse itself, i.e., water obtained through infiltration water intake is the more suitable for drinking purposes, the cleaner the water in the stream, river or lake. In this case, there may be fluctuations in its temperature, composition and odor.
3. Spring water. We are talking about underground water, self-flowing naturally to the surface of the earth. Being underground water, it is biologically impeccable and its quality is equal to artesian water. At the same time, spring water experiences strong fluctuations in its composition not only during short periods of time (rain, drought), but also over the seasons (for example, snow melting).

Surface waters, in turn, are divided as follows:

1. River water. River water is the most susceptible to pollution, and therefore is the least suitable for drinking water supply. It is polluted by waste products of people and animals. In yet to a greater extent River water pollution occurs due to incoming wastewater from workshops and industrial enterprises. The self-cleaning ability of the river can only partially cope with these pollutants. The preparation of river water for drinking water supply purposes is also difficult due to strong fluctuations in the pollution of river water, both in quantity and in composition.
2. Lake water. This water, even extracted from great depths, is extremely rarely impeccable in biological terms and therefore must undergo special purification to drinkable conditions.
3. Water from reservoirs. We are talking about water from small rivers and streams that are dammed in the upper reaches, where the water is least polluted. Water from reservoirs is categorized in the same way as Lake water. In all cases, when choosing a method and volume necessary measures For water treatment, the decisive factor is how much this water is polluted and how high the self-purifying ability of this “drinking water storage” is.
4. Sea water. Sea water cannot be supplied to the drinking water supply network without desalting. It is mined and water treated only off the sea coast and on islands, if it is not possible to use another source of water supply.

The main source of fresh water is precipitation, but two other sources can also be used for consumer needs: groundwater and surface water.

Underground springs

Approximately 37.5 million km 3, or 98% of all fresh water in liquid state accounts for groundwater, and about 50% of it lies at depths of no more than 800 m. However, the volume of available groundwater is determined by the properties of aquifers and the power of pumps pumping out water. Groundwater reserves in the Sahara are estimated at approximately 625 thousand km 3 . Under modern conditions, they are not replenished by surface fresh waters, but are depleted when pumped out. Some of the deepest groundwater is never included in the general water cycle, and only in areas of active volcanism does such water erupt in the form of steam. However, a significant mass of groundwater still penetrates the earth's surface: under the influence of gravity, these waters, moving along waterproof, inclined rock layers, emerge at the foot of the slopes in the form of springs and streams. In addition, they are pumped out by pumps, and also extracted by plant roots and then enter the atmosphere through the process of transpiration.

Fig.1. Output of an underground source to the surface

The groundwater table is upper limit available groundwater. If there are slopes, the groundwater table intersects with earth's surface, and a source is formed. If groundwater is under high hydrostatic pressure, then artesian springs are formed at the places where they reach the surface. With the advent of powerful pumps and the development of modern drilling technology, the extraction of groundwater has become easier. Pumps are used to supply water to shallow wells installed on aquifers. However, in wells drilled to great depths, to the level of pressure artesian waters, the latter rise and saturate the overlying groundwater, and sometimes come to the surface. Groundwater moves slowly, at a speed of several meters per day or even per year. They are usually found in porous pebbly or sandy horizons or relatively impervious shale formations, and only rarely are they concentrated in underground cavities or underground streams. For the right choice Well drilling sites usually require information about the geological structure of the area.

In some parts globe The growing consumption of groundwater has serious consequences. Pumping a large volume of groundwater, incomparably exceeding its natural replenishment, leads to a lack of moisture, and lowering the level of this water requires large expenditures on expensive electricity used to extract it. In places where the aquifer is depleted, the earth's surface begins to subside, and there it becomes more difficult to restore water resources naturally.

In coastal areas, excessive groundwater withdrawal leads to the replacement of fresh water in the aquifer with seawater and saline water, thereby degrading local freshwater sources. The gradual deterioration of groundwater quality as a result of salt accumulation can have even more dangerous consequences. Sources of salts can be both natural (for example, the dissolution and removal of minerals from soils) and anthropogenic (fertilization or excessive watering with water with a high salt content). Rivers fed by mountain glaciers usually contain less than 1 g/l of dissolved salts, but the mineralization of water in other rivers reaches 9 g/l due to the fact that they drain areas composed of salt-bearing rocks over a long distance.

Indiscriminate release or disposal of toxic chemicals causes them to leak into aquifers that provide drinking or irrigation water. In some cases, just a few years or decades are enough for harmful chemicals got into groundwater and accumulated there in noticeable quantities. However, once the aquifer has been contaminated, it will take between 200 and 10,000 years to naturally cleanse itself.

Surface sources

Only 0.01% of the total volume of fresh water in liquid state is concentrated in rivers and streams and 1.47% in lakes. To store water and constantly provide it to consumers, as well as to prevent unwanted floods and generate electricity, dams have been built on many rivers. The Amazon River has the highest average water consumption, and therefore the highest energy potential. South America, Congo (Zaire) in Africa, Ganges with Brahmaputra in southern Asia, Yangtze in China, Yenisei in Russia and Mississippi with Missouri in the USA.

Fig.2. Freshwater lake Baikal

Natural freshwater lakes containing about 125 thousand km 3 of water, along with rivers and artificial reservoirs are an important source of drinking water for people and animals. They are also used for irrigation of agricultural lands, navigation, recreation, fishing and, unfortunately, for the discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater. Sometimes, due to gradual filling with sediment or salinization, lakes dry up, but in the process of evolution of the hydrosphere, new lakes form in some places.

The water level of even “healthy” lakes can decrease throughout the year as a result of water runoff through the rivers and streams flowing from them, due to water seeping into the ground and its evaporation. Restoration of their levels usually occurs due to precipitation and the influx of fresh water from rivers and streams flowing into them, as well as from springs. However, as a result of evaporation, salts coming with river runoff accumulate. Therefore, after thousands of years, some lakes can become very salty and unsuitable for many living organisms.

To imagine how much water there is on Earth, you first need to imagine what a volume of water of one cubic kilometer might look like. It is in this value that water reserves on earth are measured. So, the volume of all water on our planet is 1500,000,000 km3. It is no coincidence that the Earth is called the blue planet; from space it is seen as a blue ball with spots of land. Fresh water reserves account for about 10% of total stock, and only a small portion of fresh water is found in surface waters. The main supply of fresh water is located in the earth's crust. About 190 million km3 are concentrated there. Sometimes groundwater is located at a distance of tens to hundreds of kilometers from the surface of the earth - deep underground waters. This water is under significant pressure underground. Rivers, lakes, springs and other waters that are close to the surface of the earth are called surface waters. Such waters have a significant difference from deep waters - accessibility, such waters are easy to extract, and often they themselves accumulate in various reservoirs and wells. However, such waters are less protected from pollution, since they are constantly in contact with the soil. Another mass of fresh water, difficult to obtain, but a huge reserve for earthlings (20-30 million km3), is concentrated in glaciers Antarctica, Greenland, islands Arctic Ocean. Fresh water is also found in atmospheric precipitation- rain and snow. People also learned desalinate water seas and oceans, but so far this is rarely practiced. Although in some eastern countries can be found in restrooms sea water, but use for such purposes is rather an exception than a natural development.

The main sources of fresh water were and remain rivers and lakes. The largest lake reservoir is Lake Baikal, which contains 20 thousand km3 of water. The water of this lake is considered the cleanest lake water; it contains a very low percentage of dissolved and suspended solids. minerals, there are practically no organic impurities, but a lot of oxygen. The water of Lake Baikal is so clean that you can easily see the stones lying even at a depth of 40 m.

Fresh water is divided into two types according to chemical composition: actually fresh and mineral water.

Fresh water is never found in nature as absolutely pure; being a universal solvent, it always contains a certain percentage of minerals and contaminants, and therefore must be effectively purified before consumption. Tap water undergoes some purification before entering our homes, but most often this is not enough, so household water purification filters should be used.

Mineral water is divided into four groups according to the content of mineral components in it:

Mineral healing waters with mineralization over 8g/l, such water should be taken as prescribed by a doctor.
Mineral medicinal table waters with mineralization from 2 to 8 g/l. They can be used as a drink, but not in large quantities. It is also recommended to consult your doctor first. Among our popular medicinal table waters are Narzan and Borjomi.
Mineral table waters containing 1-2 g/l of mineral elements.
Table waters with mineralization less than a gram.

Mineral water acquired its medicinal qualities over a long period, being enriched with healing minerals from special rocks located next to underground water reservoirs. According to its pH indicator, it can be acidic, alkaline or neutral. The name of the water also contains the basic composition, for example, sodium chloride or sulfate chloride.

Groundwater.

Artesian springs- This water sources deep. They are well protected from industrial, agricultural and bacterial contamination. To gain access to artesian water, special drilling rigs are used; steel pipes are lowered to the well, which, under the influence of powerful pumps, artesian water to the surface through a pipeline. During the delivery of water to the surface, contaminants may penetrate into it, and such water can often contain unfavorable mineral composition for a person. Therefore, such water must be purified using industrial or household filters.

Spring water- water from springs and springs that make their way to the surface of the earth from earth's bowels. Such water can be fresh or mineral. Often in our latitudes, temples were built next to large springs, and the spring was improved to make it convenient for people to collect water. Now the springs may be closing as the water quality deteriorates significantly due to nearby soil contamination. In large cities with especially dirty water, bottled spring water is in demand, which is taken from places located far outside the city limits, factories and landfills. The quality of such water is regularly monitored by sanitary services. However, using bottled water, of course, is not as convenient or effective as tap water purified with high-quality water filters.

Surface waters.

Well water is still actively used in rural areas; a pit of no more than 10 meters can sometimes provide the entire village with water. There is a great danger in using such water: all types of agricultural waste (pesticides, nitrites, nitrates, heavy metals) get into well water through the soil.

No more than 10% of all fresh water used is usually spent on human household needs; industry and agriculture use the remaining 90%. For example, to get a kilogram of sugar, a person spends about 200 liters. of water, the production of a kilogram of synthetic rubber is about 2400 liters. Every year, global spending increases by living conditions people use technology that consumes more water– for example, dishwashers use twice as much water per load as when a person washes dishes by hand. Industrial development also entails additional costs.

Before water from lakes, rivers and underground sources comes into use, it undergoes processing, after industrial or household use, the water is also purified to return to rivers and lakes. Tap water has usually already been used several times before it reaches our home.

Obviously, the most in a convenient way rivers and lakes remain to obtain water. People have always sought to build their cities close to large rivers and lakes, and now the water needs of cities are served by surface water. Drilling deep wells that could supply large volumes water major cities, can lead to environmental disaster. Lack exact quantity fresh water resources in some areas of the world will sooner or later lead to access to the world's ocean water reserves and active practice water desalination using

Water is the most abundant substance on our planet: although different quantities, it is available everywhere, and plays vitally important role For environment, and living organisms. Highest value has fresh water, without which human existence is impossible, and nothing can replace it. Humans have always consumed fresh water and used it for a variety of purposes, including domestic, agricultural, industrial and recreational use.

Water reserves on Earth

Water exists in three states of aggregation: liquid, solid and gaseous. It forms oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and groundwater located in top layer bark, and soil cover Earth. In its solid state, it exists in the form of snow and ice in polar and mountainous regions. A certain amount of water is contained in the air in the form of water vapor. Huge volumes of water are found in various minerals in the earth's crust.

Identifying the exact amount of water reserves around the world is quite difficult because water is dynamic and is in constant movement, changing its state from liquid to solid and gaseous, and vice versa. As a rule, the total amount of water resources in the world is estimated as the totality of all waters in the hydrosphere. This is all the free water that exists in all three states of aggregation in the atmosphere, on the Earth's surface and in the earth's crust to a depth of 2000 meters.

Current estimates show that our planet contains huge amount water - about 1386,000,000 cubic kilometers (1.386 billion km³). However, 97.5% of this volume is salt water and only 2.5% is fresh. Most of the fresh water (68.7%) is found in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Antarctic, Arctic, and mountainous regions. Further, 29.9% exists as groundwater, and only 0.26% of total number The Earth's fresh water is concentrated in lakes, reservoirs and river systems, where it is most easily available for our economic needs.

These indicators were calculated over a long period of time, but if shorter periods are taken into account (one year, several seasons or months), the amount of water in the hydrosphere may change. This is due to the exchange of water between the oceans, land and atmosphere. This exchange is usually called the global hydrological cycle.

Freshwater resources

Fresh water contains minimum quantity salts (not more than 0.1%) and is suitable for human needs. However, not all resources are available to people, and even those that are are not always suitable for use. Consider sources of fresh water:

Glaciers and snow covers occupy about 1/10 of the world's land mass and contain about 70% of fresh water. Unfortunately, most of these resources are located far from settlements, therefore difficult to access.
Groundwater is by far the most common and accessible source of fresh water.
Freshwater lakes are mainly located on high altitudes. Canada contains about 50% of the world's freshwater lakes. Many lakes, especially those in dry areas, become salty due to evaporation. Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, and Great Sea salt lake are one of the world's largest salt lakes.
Rivers form a hydrological mosaic. There are 263 international river basins on Earth, which cover more than 45% of the planet's landmass (with the exception of Antarctica).

Water resources objects

The main objects of water resources are:

oceans and seas;
lakes, ponds and reservoirs;
swamps;
rivers, canals and streams;
soil moisture;
groundwater (soil, groundwater, interstratal, artesian, mineral);
ice caps and glaciers;
precipitation (rain, snow, dew, hail, etc.).

Problems of water use

For many hundreds of years, human impact on water resources was insignificant and was exclusively local character. The excellent properties of water - its renewal due to the cycle and the ability to be purified - make fresh water relatively purified and possessing quantitative and qualitative characteristics that will remain unchanged for a long time.

However, these features of water gave rise to the illusion of the immutability and inexhaustibility of these resources. Out of these prejudices arose a tradition of careless use of extremely important water resources.

The situation has changed greatly over last decades. In many parts of the world, the results of long-term and mismanagement of such a valuable resource have been discovered. This applies to both direct use water, and indirect.

Around the world, over the course of 25-30 years, there has been a massive anthropogenic change in the hydrological cycle of rivers and lakes, affecting water quality and their potential as a natural resource.

The volume of water resources, their spatial and temporal distribution, are determined not only by natural climate fluctuations, as before, but now also by type economic activity people. Many parts of the world's water resources are becoming so depleted and heavily polluted that they can no longer meet ever-increasing demands. It may
become the main factor preventing economic development and population growth.

Water pollution

The main causes of water pollution are:

Wastewater;

Domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater pollutes many rivers and lakes.

Disposal of waste in seas and oceans;

Burying garbage in the seas and oceans can cause huge problems, because it negatively affects living organisms that live in the waters.

Industry;

Industry is a huge source of water pollution, producing substances harmful to people and the environment.

Radioactive substances;

Radioactive contamination, in which there is a high concentration of radiation in the water, is the most dangerous pollution and can spread into ocean waters.

Oil spill;

An oil spill poses a threat not only to water resources, but also to human settlements located near a contaminated source, as well as to all biological resources for whom water is a habitat or a vital necessity.

Leaks of oil and petroleum products from underground storage facilities;

Large quantities of oil and petroleum products are stored in tanks made of steel, which corrodes over time, resulting in leaks. harmful substances V surrounding soil and groundwater.

Atmospheric precipitation;

Precipitation, such as acid precipitation, occurs when air is polluted and changes the acidity of water.

Global warming;

Rising water temperatures cause the death of many living organisms and destroy a large number of habitats.

Eutrophication.

Eutrophication is a process of decline quality characteristics water associated with excessive nutrient enrichment.

Rational use and protection of water resources

Water resources include rational use and security, ranging from individuals to businesses and governments. There are many ways we can reduce our impact on aquatic environment. Here are some of them:

Saving water

Factors such as climate change, population growth and increasing aridity are increasing pressure on our water resources. The best way Save water is to reduce consumption and avoid increased wastewater.

On household level, there are many ways to save water, such as: more short shower, installation of water-saving appliances, washing machines with low water consumption. Another approach is to plant gardens that do not require large quantity water.

Almost 70% of the territory of our planet is covered with water. If recalculated in cubic kilometers, the figure turns out to be quite impressive - 1,500 million cubic kilometers. And it seems that this is a huge figure, but we should not forget that this one and a half million includes absolutely all water - sea, ocean, lake, river. Of this 70%, only 3% is fresh water. About 190 million cubic kilometers of water resources are under earth's crust(underground reservoirs). Depending on the depth of these sources, they are divided into groundwater and surface water. At the same time, taking into account the number of people living on earth, and, consequently, people in need of drinking water- this figure is scanty. Today, the lack of clean fresh water is the most basic problem of humanity. Scientists around the world are developing programs and technologies that are aimed at desalinating sea and ocean water.

Water pools, which are located underground at a depth of tens to hundreds of meters, are peculiar vessels where water is surrounded by solid rock and is under high pressure. Water that accumulates at shallow depths is an excellent basis for wells and water taps. This water is suitable for domestic needs, but requires special purification if used for food. Water located at a depth of several meters from the ground has one significant drawback - it is constantly in contact with the top loose layer of soil and can be contaminated with pesticides, heavy metals, radionuclides and other substances and compounds. Therefore, reservoirs at greater depths are cleaner and safer for use.

Glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica are the largest source of fresh water on earth. This is approximately 20 to 30 million cubic kilometers of fresh and, most importantly, clean drinking water.

Quite a lot fresh water It also falls in the form of a wide variety of precipitation (snow, rain, dew), and this is about 14 thousand cubic kilometers. Today, many special technologies have been developed for desalination of ocean water. The main method for extracting fresh water is the principle of distillation. But in addition to this method, other physicochemical methods are used, which are cheaper and more accessible.

The main sources of fresh water on earth are rivers and lakes. These are inherently unique “gifts” of nature. Humanity has been using for many centuries fresh water to meet your needs. The most large lake in the world is Lake Baikal, located in the territory Russian Federation. This reservoir is considered not only the largest in the world, but also the cleanest with the richest flora and fauna. The volume of water in Baikal is about 20 thousand cubic kilometers. The composition of water in Baikal is approximately the following: arsenic - 0.3 µg/l (with a maximum permissible concentration of 10 µg/l), lead 0.7 µg/l (maximum concentration is 10 units), mercury - 0.1 µg/l ( norm - 1 µg/l), cadmium - 0.02 µg/l (at maximum permissible norm at 1 µg/l). About six thousand cubic kilometers of water is found in all animal and plant organisms on the planet, including humans themselves. Therefore, we can safely say that natural resources waters are distributed literally throughout the planet.

A person consists of 80% liquid, reducing water balance in the body leads to quite sad consequences. The most interesting thing is that we do not pay any attention to the processes of liquid exchange with nature. And this happens not only through sweat and urine, but also through the droplets of liquid we exhale. But in order to give away liquid, we draw it from nature itself. And it’s unlikely that any of us asked the question “What will happen if the exchange of liquids stops?” If the flow of fluid into the human body dehydration will occur - in other words, dehydration of the body.

The main symptoms of dehydration: weakness, headache, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath. With a loss of 10% of liquid by weight human body leads to loss of consciousness, speech impairment, hearing and vision impairment. If fluid loss occurs in the region of 15 to 20%, complications occur in the cardiovascular and nervous system and ultimately death.

It is for this reason that you should be attentive to the needs of your own body and not ignore its alarm signals. And most importantly - water sources on earth should be protected to prevent their pollution and disappearance.