The Water Cycle

Evaporation: Evaporation occurs when the sun heats up a body of water, usually the ocean. The water then turns into gas, which rises into the atmosphere. Once in the atmosphere, it becomes clouds or fog. This gas is called water vapor. As seen in the picture, an example of evaporation is when you see thin wisps of air on top of the water if you live near a beach in the afternoon. This is evaporation in action. By evening, the temperature usually drops a few degrees and the vapor, which is warm by now, rises. Cool air takes its place and the evaporation process is ready to begin again.  Water vapor is pure and free of contaminants.

 

Condensation: Condensation occurs when warm water vapor meets a cold object and turns back into its liquid form. As seen in the picture, an example of condensation is when you take a cold drink outside on a warm day. Soon, you’ll see little droplets of water on the outside of the

glass. This is cooled water vapor. Condensation is the opposite of evaporation, and the water it generates is safe enough to drink. Condensation is used to generate water for human consumption as fresh water supplies dwindle.

 

Precipitation: Precipitation occurs when water vapor inside a cloud condenses and makes it heavy. The cloud’s elevation in the atmosphere is lowered and that is why before a storm clouds block out sunlight because they are so low in the atmosphere. The vapor inside then

becomes too heavy to be kept up and falls to earth in the form of rain, hail or snow. Sometimes, a very violent storm can occur which can threaten buildings and human lives, as seen in the picture.

 

Infiltration: Infiltration (no, not Special Forces infiltration) occurs when precipitation (rain) falls to the earth. The ground soaks up this water and that process is called infiltration. An example is when if you put a sponge in the rain, the water will fall on the sponge and the sponge will soak it up, as seen in the picture. Infiltration is what keeps wells and pumps supplied with

water. As the groundwater has traveled through layers of natural filters, when brought up to supply a household or a village it requires very little synthetic purification before consumption.