Use of water in our daily lives

Water is one of the most vital natural resources for all life on Earth. The availability and quality of water always have played an important part in determining not only where people can live, but also their quality of life. Even though there always has been plenty of fresh water on Earth, water has not always been available when and where it is needed, nor is it always of suitable quality for all uses. Water must be considered as a finite resource that has limits and boundaries to its availability and suitability for use.

The balance between supply and demand for water is a delicate one. The availability of usable water has and will continue to dictate where and to what extent development will occur. Water must be in sufficient supply for an area to develop, and an area cannot continue to develop if water demand far outstrips available supply.

Even though discussions of water use typically focus on fresh-water use, saline water use also is important in the United States. Some categories of water use, such as thermoelectric, industrial, and mining, use saline water, mainly for cooling generators in thermoelectric power plants. Industries and mines use saline water to cool machinery and to wash and transport products, mainly for cooling of machinery.

Categories of Water use

Commercial water use includes fresh water for motels, hotels, restaurants, office buildings, other commercial facilities, and civilian and military institutions. Domestic water use is probably the most important daily use of water for most people.

Domestic use includes water that is used in the home every day, including water for normal household purposes, such as drinking, food preparation, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, and watering lawns and gardens.

Industrial water use is a valuable resource to the nation's industries for such purposes as processing, cleaning, transportation, dilution, and cooling in manufacturing facilities. Major water-using industries include steel, chemical, paper, and petroleum refining. Industries often reuse the same water over and over for more than one purpose.

Irrigation water use is water artificially applied to farm, orchard, pasture, and horticultural crops, as well as water used to irrigate pastures, for frost and freeze protection, chemical application, crop cooling, harvesting, and for the leaching of salts from the crop root zone. Nonagricultural activities include self-supplied water to irrigate public and private golf courses, parks,

Livestock water use includes water for stock animals, feed lots, dairies, fish farms, and other nonfarm needs. Water is needed for the production of red meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and wool, and for horses, rabbits, and pets. Livestock water use only includes fresh water.

Mining water use includes water for the extraction of naturally occurring minerals; solids, such as coal and ores; liquids, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The category includes quarrying, milling (such as crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and other operations as part of mining activity. A significant portion of the water used for mining, about 32 percent, is saline.

Public Supply water use refers to water withdrawn by public and private water suppliers, such as county and municipal water works, and delivered to users for domestic, commercial, and industrial purposes.

Thermoelectric Power water use is the amount of water used in the production of electric power generated with heat. The source of the heat may be from fossil fuels, nuclear fission, or geothermal. Fossil fuel power plants typically reuse water. They generate electricity by turning a turbine using steam power. After the steam is used to turn the turbines, it is condensed back to water by cooling it. The condensed water is then routed back to the boiler, where the cycle begins again.

In Religious Worship, water is used for ceremonies in many religions.  As Christians, we use water for Baptism and to bless people of faith in the churches.   Similarly, Hindu, Muslim, and many other religious communities use water for various ceremonial rituals in their worship places.

In conclusion, water is a most important and essential element of our lives. Therefore, let us thank God our creator for providing us water for our daily use. As our former archbishop, the Most Rev. Harry J. Flynn, always used to say, “We never appreciate water until the well runs dry.”  Let fresh water refresh our heart and mind everyday.

Fr. Tony Andrade