1. HYDROELECTICIY
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generate by hydropower. Hydro
comes from the Greek word for water. It is the most widely used form of renewable
energy, accounting for 16 percent of global electricity generation. China is the
largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010. The
cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a competitive source of renewable
electricity. However, damming interrupts the
The flow of rivers and can harm local
Ecosystems, and building large dams and
reservoirs often involves displacing people
and Wildlife.
2. TIDAL ENERGY
Tidal Energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful
forms of power - mainly electricity. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has
potential for future electricity generation. Among sources of renewable energy
tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited
availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus
constricting its total availability. However, many recent technological development
and improvements, both in design and turbine technology, indicate that the
total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed, and
that economic.
3. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
The term Geothermal originates from two Geek words 'GEO' and 'THERM'. The
Greek word ‘geo’ means the earth and ‘therme’ means heat from the earth.
Geothermal energy is energy derived from the heat of the earth. Geothermal energy is
the heat from the Earth. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow
ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and
down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
Geothermal energy is a renewable source of energy.
Geothermal development is often allowed
on federal lands because it does not
significantly harm the environment.
Geothermal power plants are excellent
sources of base load power. Base load
power is power that electric utility
companies must deliver all day long.
4. WAVE ENERGY
Wave energy is the capacity of the waves for doing work. Ocean waves are generated
by the influence of the wind on the ocean surface first causing ripples. As the wind
continues to blow, the ripples become chop, fully developed seas and finally swells. In
deep water, the energy in waves can travel for thousands of miles until that energy is
finally dissipated on distant shores. Waves are caused by the wind blowing over the
surface of the ocean. In many areas of the world, the wind blows with enough
consistency and force to provide continuous waves along the shoreline. Ocean
waves contain tremendous energy potential.
Wave power devices extract energy from
the surface motion of ocean waves or from
pressure fluctuations below the surface
5. The property of water to form an insoluble curd with
soap instead of latter. In other words it is the destroying
property due to the presence of Bicarbonates, Sulphates
and Chlorides of Calcium and Magnesium. Hard water is
water that has high mineral content. Hard drinking water
is generally not harmful to one's health, but can pose
serious problems in industrial settings. The presence of
the metal cations makes the water hard.
IMPORTANT FACT
The World Health Organisation
says that "there does not appear
to be any convincing evidence
that water hardness causes
adverse health effects in
humans.”
6. TEMPORARY HARDNESS
Temporary hardness is a type of water hardness caused by the presence of dissolved
Bicarbonates minerals (calcium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate).
Temporary hardness can be reduced either by boiling the water, or by the addition
of lime (calcium hydroxide) through the softening process of lime softening.
PERMANENT HARDNESS
Permanent hardness is hardness (mineral content) that cannot be removed by
boiling. When this is the case, it is usually caused by the presence
of calcium sulphate and/or magnesium sulphate in the water, which do not
precipitate out as the temperature increases.
7. It is often desirable to soften hard water. Most detergents contain ingredients that
counteract the effects of hard water on the surfactants. For this reason, water
softening is often unnecessary. Where softening is practiced, it is often recommended
to soften only the water sent to domestic hot water systems so as to prevent or delay
inefficiencies and damage due to scale formation in water heaters. A common method
for water softening involves the use of ion exchange resins, which replace ions like
Ca2+ by twice the number of monocations such as sodium or potassium ions.
Temporary hardness can be reduced either by boiling the water, or by the addition
of lime (calcium hydroxide) through the softening process of lime softening.
Permanent hardness can be removed by the addition of washing soda (sodium
carbonate).
8. DISADVANTAGES
Hard Water make peoples' cleaning efforts less effective. Clothes that are washed may
not appear clean. More cleaning products are generally required to complete tasks
such as mopping or scrubbing bathrooms. Hard Water tends to leave a film on
surfaces of the dishes. Soaps and detergents do not perform as well in hard water as
they normally do.
ADVANTAGES
The problem of hard water is caused by a high concentration of minerals, often
calcium and magnesium. When individuals drink this water, it may help them to meet
their needs for these nutrients.
9. Water conservation is the practice of saving water and reducing wastefulness.
The goals of water conservation efforts are:
SASTAINABILITY-To ensure availability for future generations, the withdrawal of
fresh water from an ecosystem should not exceed its natural replacement rate.
ENEGY CONSERVATION - Water pumping, delivery
and waste water treatment facilities consume
a significant amount of energy. In some regions
of the world over 15% of total electricity
consumption is devoted to water management.
HABITAT CONSERVATION -Minimizing human water
use helps to preserve fresh water habitats for
local wildlife and migrating waterfowl, as well as
as reducing the need to build new dams and
other water diversion infrastructures.
10. Water conservation is important because it creates more efficient use of the water
resources, it helps decrease in water pollution and increases in energy saving.
Conserving of water helps in protecting the water quality through improved
wastewater treatment. It is also very important in ensuring that we have enough
usable water. Our water resources have decreased
significantly. So it is our duty to protect water because
water is an important resource ,we will not be able
survive without water and it is we the people who
are polluting the water and making it unfit for drinking.
IMPORTANT FACT
SAVE WATER SAVE LIFE
AND OUR PLANET!
11. Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and
deposition of rainwater for reuse before it
reaches the aquifer, include water for garden,
water for livestock, water for irrigation, and
indoor heating for houses etc.. In many places
the water collected is just redirected to a
deep pit with percolation. The harvested
water can be used as drinking water as well
as for storage and other purpose
like irrigation.
DID YOU KNOW?
There are two types of
rain water harvesting :
Roof Top Rain Water
Harvesting
Drain Harvesting
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Currently in China and Brazil rooftop rain water harvesting is being practiced for
providing drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, water for small
irrigation and a way to replenish ground water levels. Gansu province in China and
semi-arid north-east Brazil have the largest rooftop rainwater harvesting projects
ongoing.
In the state of Tamil Nadu, rainwater harvesting is made compulsory for every
building to avoid ground water depletion. It proved excellent results within five
years, and every other state took it as role model. Since its
implementation, Chennai saw a 50 percent rise in water level in five years and the
water quality significantly improved.
In Beijing, some housing societies are now adding rain water in their main water
sources after proper treatment.
In Sri Lanka rainwater harvesting has been a popular method of obtaining water
for agriculture and for drinking purposes in rural homes.
13. Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a social movement consisting
of adivasis, farmers, environmentalists, and human rights activists against a
number of large dams being built across the Narmada river. The river flows
through the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India. Sardar Sarovar Dam in
Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the river and was one of the first focal points
of the movement.
HISTORY
Post-1947, investigations were carried out to evaluate mechanisms for
using water from the Narmada River,which flows into the Arabian
Sea after passing through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat. Due
to inter-state differences in implementing schemes and sharing of
water, the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted by
the Government of India on 6 October 1969 to adjudicate over the
disputes. This tribunal investigated the matters referred to it and
responded after more than 10 years. On 12 December 1979, the
decision as given by the tribunal, with all the parties at dispute binding
to it, was released by the Indian government.
As per the tribunal's decision, 30 major, 135 medium, and 3000 small
dams, were granted approval for construction including raising the
height of the Sardar Sarovar dam.
14. PEOPLE INVOLVED
FORMATION
Amongst the major celebrities who have shown
their support for Narmada Bachao Andolan
are Booker Prize winner Arundhati
Roy and Aamir Khan.
1994 saw the launch of Narmada: A Valley
Rises, by filmmaker Ali Kazimi. It documents
the five-week Sangharsh Yatra of 1991. The film
went on to win several awards and is
considered by many to be a classic on the issue.
In 1996, veteran documentary
filmmaker, Anand Patwardhan, made an awardwinning documentary: A Narmada Diary.
There were groups such as Gujarat-based ArchVahini(Action Research in Community Health
and Development) and Narmada Asargrastha
Samiti (Committee for people affected by the
Narmada dam), Madhya Pradesh-based
Narmada Ghati Nav Nirman Samiti (Committee
for a new life in the Narmada Valley) and
Maharashtra-based Narmada Dharangrastha
Samiti (Committee for Narmada dam-affected
people) who either believed in the need for fair
rehabilitation plans for the people or who
vehemently opposed dam construction despite
a resettlement policy.
While Medha Patkar established Narmada
Bachao Andolan in 1989, all these groups
joined this national coalition of environmental
and human rights activists, scientists,
academics and project-affected people with a
non-violent approach.
15. Within the focus of Narmada Bachao Andolan towards the stoppage of the Sardar
Sarovar dam, Patkar advised addition of World Bank to their propaganda. Using
the right to fasting, she undertook a 22-days fast that almost took her life. In 1991,
Patkar's actions led to an unprecedented independent review by the World Bank.
The Morse Commission, appointed in June 1991 at the recommendation of World
Bank President Barber Conable, conducted its first independent review of a World
Bank project. This independent review stated that "performance under these
projects has fallen short of what is called for under Bank policies and guidelines
and the policies of the Government of India."This resulted in the Indian
Government pulling out of its loan agreement with the World Bank. In response,
Patkar said "It is very clear and obvious that they used this as a face-saving
device," suggesting that if this were not to happen, the World Bank eventually
would have withdrawn the loan. The World Bank's participation in these projects
was cancelled in 1995.
She undertook a similar fast in 1993 and resisted evacuation from the dam site.In
1994, the Bachao Andolan office was attacked reportedly by a couple of political
parties, where Patkar and other activists were physically assaulted and verbally
abused. In protest, a few NBA activists and she began a fast; 20 days later, they
were arrested and forcibly fed intravenously.
16. The Supreme Court's decision is still pending, seeking stoppage of construction of the Sardar
Sarovar dam. The court initially ruled the decision in the Andolan's favor, thereby effecting an
immediate stoppage of work at the dam and directing the concerned states to first complete
the rehabilitation and replacement process.
The Court deliberated on this issue further for several years but finally upheld the Tribunal
Award and allowed the construction to proceed, subject to conditions. The court introduced
a mechanism to monitor the progress of resettlementpari passu with the raising of the height
of the dam through the Grievance Redressal Authorities (GRA) in each of the party states.
The court’s decision referred in this document, given in the year 2000 after seven years of
deliberations, has paved the way for completing the project to attain full envisaged benefits.
The court's final line of the order states, "Every endeavour shall be made to see that the
project is completed as expeditiously as possible"
The Narmada dam's benefits include provision of drinking water, power generation and
irrigation facilities. However, the campaign led by the NBA activists has held up the project's
completion, and the NBA supporters have attacked on local people who accepted
compensation for moving. Others have argued that the Narmada Dam protesters are little
more than environmental extremists who use pseudoscientific agitprop to scuttle the
development of the region and that the dam will provide agricultural benefits to millions of
poor in India. There had also been instances when the NBA activists turned violent and
attacked rehabilitation officer from Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) and
caused damage to the contractor's machinery.
The NBA has been accused of lying under oath in court about land ownership in areas
affected by the dam. The Supreme Court has mulled perjury charges against the group
17. Watershed management is the study of the relevant characteristics of a watershed
aimed at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the process of creating and
implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed
functions that affect the plant, animal, and human
communities within a watershed boundary.
Features of a watershed that agencies seek to
manage include water supply, water quality,
drainage, stormwater runoff, water rights, and
the overall planning and utilization of
watersheds. Landowners, land use agencies,
stormwater management experts, environmental
specialists, water use surveyors and communities
all play an integral part in the management of a
watershed.
18.
As ageing large-scale surface
irrigation schemes have become
increasingly inefficient, and
farmers have begun growing a
wider range of crops requiring
water on demand, the number
of groundwater wells in India
has exploded. In 1960, there
were fewer than 100,000 such
wells; by 2006 the figure had
risen to nearly 12 million. In
India, a possible solution to
over-use of groundwater is
emerging, known as
'groundwater recharge'. It
involves capturing rainwater
that would otherwise run-off,
and using it to refill aquifers.
In the Punjab region of India, for
example, groundwater levels have
dropped 10 meters since 1979, and
the rate of depletion is accelerating.