The Importance of Water

Water brings and sustains life in our planet. Water is something which we cannot do without only it is not available. After all, our bodies are made up of seventy percent water. It is quiet possible to survive without food for more than a month, but without water we will perish in matter of days. Remember the ancient mariner's cry of agony and despair in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem??

'Water,water,everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water,water,everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.'

This verse of the poem clearly points to the absolute need of suitable drinking water for survival. The mariner, being the only survivor left on his ship, is desperately lost at sea for months. Having used up all the ship/s store of drinkable water, he laments on his plight: surrounded by water on all sides, but a not a drop drink! Water is essential to life. We require water for washing, cooking, cultivating our fields, and most importantly, for drinking. Life becomes impossible on earth without water. Imagine a drought situation: there are no rains, the river and lakes have dried up and all plant-life dry and wasted. In such a situation, the Grim Reaper becomes exceedingly busy, for water is life giving and every living organism, without exception, requires water for its existence. Dehydration spells, without mistake, certain, inescapable death. When we read about the origins of life on this planet, we realise at once the important role water had played in causing living things to come into existence. Life began, or so geologists and scientist say, in the watery oceans. Water has those unique chemical elements and properties needed to nourish the living cells of living beings. Apart from the glaringly obvious fact that water is essential to life, water is also man's most precious resource. Water is a source of energy. Water converted into steam can be used as fuel for driving vehicles fitted with steam engines. Electricity can also be generated with water power. In fact, about a third of the world's electricity comes from hydroelectric power plants. And this form of power supply is cheap since water free and running costs of a hydroelectric power plant is much cheaper compared to the other types of power plants. The importance of water can in no measure be minimized. It is not only a source of life and energy, it also sustains life on the planet. We should all be duty bound to ensure that our sources of water remain unpolluted.