Water Resources Conservation Honor

Nature Study

Requirements

1. What are water resources?

   Answer: Water resources are the surface and groundwater available for human and environmental use, including rivers, lakes, oceans, aquifers and glaciers. They are essential for public supply, agriculture, industry, energy generation and the balance of ecosystems. — The definition is given by the National Water Resources Policy (Law 9,433/1997), which considers water a public-domain good and a limited natural resource endowed with economic value.

2. Find out at least 10 activities in which the use of water is essential.

   Answer: At least 10 activities in which the use of water is essential: 1) drinking and cooking (human consumption); 2) personal hygiene (bathing, brushing teeth); 3) agriculture and crop irrigation; 4) watering animals (livestock raising); 5) industry (manufacturing and cooling of products); 6) hydroelectric power generation; 7) fishing and aquaculture; 8) river and maritime transport; 9) leisure and water sports (pools, swimming); 10) urban and domestic cleaning (washing clothes, dishes, streets). — About 70% of the fresh water abstracted in the world is destined for agriculture, according to FAO data — this is by far the largest essential use of water by volume.

3. Know how the public water supply works in your city.

   Answer: The supply begins with abstraction (river, reservoir or well), continues through transmission mains to the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) where it undergoes coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection with chlorine. Then it goes to the elevated reservoirs and reaches homes through the distribution network. — The WTP process is standardized by Ordinance 888/2021 of the Ministry of Health, which defines potability standards — disinfection with a minimum residual chlorine of 0.2 mg/L in the network.

4. What is hydroelectric power?

   Answer: Hydroelectric power is the electricity generated by the movement of water, which when passing through turbines makes coupled generators spin. It is renewable, clean and accounts for about 60% of the Brazilian electricity matrix — Itaipu, on the Paraná River, is the second largest plant in the world in installed capacity. — Itaipu has 14,000 MW of installed capacity and generates about 90 TWh per year, surpassed only by the Chinese Three Gorges plant (22,500 MW) — official data from Itaipu Binacional.

5. Cite at least 5 factors that cause water waste and how they could be avoided.

   Answer: Five factors and solutions: dripping faucet (repair the seal), long showers (limit to 5 minutes and turn off while lathering), washing the car with a hose (use a bucket), undetected leaks (inspect the plumbing periodically) and an old toilet flush (install a 3/6 liter dual flush tank). — A faucet dripping one drop per second wastes about 30 liters per day or 12 thousand liters per year — the equivalent of the consumption of two people per month, according to SABESP.

6. Know how the following factors directly influence the waste of drinking water:
   • Deforestation
   • Pollution
   • Disorderly occupation and use of land
   • Lack of basic sanitation

   Answer: 1) Deforestation: the removal of vegetation reduces the infiltration of rain into the soil, dries up springs and decreases the recharge of the water tables, forcing people to seek water from increasingly distant and expensive sources. 2) Pollution: the dumping of garbage, sewage, pesticides and chemical products contaminates rivers, lakes and water tables (water sources), requiring more expensive treatments and rendering useless part of the water that would otherwise be drinkable. 3) Disorderly occupation and use of the soil: the sealing of the terrain (asphalt, concrete, unplanned construction) prevents infiltration, increases floods and runoff that carries dirt into the rivers, wasting water that is lost without reuse. 4) Lack of basic sanitation: without a sewage and treatment network, raw sewage returns directly to the rivers, making the use of the water downstream unfeasible and wasting the resource that could be reused. — About 35 million Brazilians do not have access to treated water and almost 100 million do not have sewage collection, according to the 2024 ranking of the Trata Brasil Institute — this directly pressures the water sources.

7. Research and find out the average water consumption in your country in the following activities:

   Answer: Average water consumption by activity in Brazil (average total consumption ~150 liters per person/day): 1) SHOWER — about 9 liters per minute in a common shower; a 15-min shower uses ~135 L (with a water-saving showerhead/turning off the tap while soaping up, it drops to ~45 L); 2) TOILET FLUSH — 6 to 15 liters per flush (old tank up to 15 L; dual flush model 3/6 L); 3) BRUSHING TEETH — with the tap running, it uses ~12 L; with the tap closed, less than 1 L; 4) WASHING DISHES — with the tap running ~105 L; with the tap closed and a quick rinse, ~20 L; 5) WASHING MACHINE — ~135 L per full cycle; 6) WASHING THE CAR WITH A HOSE — up to 560 L in 30 min (with a bucket, ~40 L). The WHO recommends a minimum of 110 L per person/day to meet basic needs. Knowing these averages shows where the most waste occurs and helps to save. — The data is from SABESP and the ANA (National Water Agency) — Brazilians consume about 36% above the minimum recommended by the UN, mainly due to the habit of taking long showers.

8. Know what hydrology is and find out how its study is fundamental to the conservation of water resources.

   Answer: Hydrology is the science that studies water in nature — its distribution, circulation, physical and chemical properties and the hydrological cycle. Its study is essential to predict floods and droughts, manage watersheds, size dams and protect water sources for the future supply of cities. — Hydrology supports the monitoring of the ANA (National Water Agency), which operates more than 4,500 streamflow gauging stations in Brazil, generating data that guides water use permits.

9. Know at least 3 ways of purifying water.

   Answer: Three common methods: boiling for at least 1 minute at 100°C (kills bacteria, viruses and protozoa), chlorination with 2 drops of 2.5% sodium hypochlorite per liter, letting it rest for 30 minutes, and filtration through a ceramic candle with activated carbon that retains impurities and residual chlorine. — The SODIS method (Solar Water Disinfection), approved by the WHO, uses a PET bottle in the sun for 6 hours and eliminates 99.9% of pathogens through ultraviolet radiation — a low-cost solution for areas without electricity.

10. Find out at least 10 ways in which you and your family can conserve the available water resources and put them into practice.

    Answer: Ten actions: turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, take showers of up to 5 minutes, wash the sidewalk with a bucket, collect rainwater to water plants, reuse the water from the washing machine, fix leaks quickly, install a dual flush toilet, do not throw garbage into rivers, plant trees at springs and educate your family. — Turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth saves about 12 liters per brushing — in a family of 4 people brushing 3 times a day, that is almost 4,300 liters saved per month, according to SABESP.

11. Develop a creative awareness project about the improper use of water at your school or workplace.

    Answer: Create a project involving: posters or short videos about waste, a competition for lowest consumption between classes, a water monitor in each room, a talk with a technician from the local utility company, and the installation of flow reducers on drinking fountains and faucets, recording the consumption before and after to show the result. — Similar school programs in the state of São Paulo have already reduced consumption by up to 30% in SABESP pilot schools — the key is to monitor consumption before and after to make the impact visible.

12. Do at least one of the items below:
    • Create a project with your Unit/Club to preserve a source of drinking water in your neighborhood.
    • Have the Environmental Conservation or Renewable Energy Honor

    Answer: Choose one of the options: organize with your unit a cleanup task force, planting of native forest and identification with an educational sign of a spring, stream or community well in the neighborhood; or complete the Environmental Conservation or Renewable Energy Honor through the club. — Planting native forest at a spring is the most effective way to protect it — Law 12,651/2012 (Forest Code) requires a Permanent Preservation Area with a 50-meter radius around urban springs.