Question

How do the properties of water affect water quality and water availability?

Answer 1

Depends. What class are you doing this for? That would probably determine how broadly you would want to answer this question.

Answer 2

It's a chemistry project… we all have to research a country and discuss its water quality/availability issues

Answer 3

my country is Kenya

Answer 4

Ah. Okay, for starters... Water likes a lot of stuff. There are a great number of things that dissolve in water, or react with it, even if that's over a period of time. For instance, salt.
The way your body deals with salt means that drinking salt water is a bad idea, so we have to have fresh water.
This also means that hanging onto and storing water is a problem. You can't put it somewhere bad stuff will get into it, or that bad stuff will get into YOU, and that's not fun for anybody.
Water also evaporates, which is great for the water cycle but bad for some methods of storing it. If you have a lake, that will dry up more quickly than a well will, or an aquifer.

Answer 5

Dirt will settle out of water, but stuff like arsenic or other toxins hangs around, rather stubbornly at that. Modern technology makes water management a lot easier, but that's only any help to those with access to it. In places like Kenya, there's less access than is preferable, and parts of the country are arid (little rain, so not much water to go around).

Answer 6

I'd head over to the Googles. There's sure to be people out there who explain it better than I do.

Answer 7

ok, I think I understand everything but what polarity has to do with it all.

Answer 8

Okay. Do you know what polarity is? Because this is important! And also fun.

Answer 9

Yes. And I think I just figured it out. Would it be that because of the polarity, the water molecules pull apart the turbidity, making it harder tot clean?

Answer 10

Exactly! Since it's not clumping nicely, you can't filter it so well. If something's dissolved in water, it's hard to get it out-- compare it to unmixing an egg or getting dye out of water. The same is true of chemicals that get into groundwater.

Answer 11

Yay! Thanks so much for your help!

Answer 12

You're very welcome! Good luck!

Answer 13

Properties of water such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and the concentration of nitrates and phosphates are important indicators of water quality. These properties can change as a result of natural and human related processes. These properties can be used to determine the effects of groundwater and stream water on aquatic ecosystem health and can sometimes be used to identify sources of pollution in water.
Changes in these parameters may be detrimental to the organisms in and around the water source. Many factors can affect the quality of the water in an ecosystem including discharges of industrial or agricultural wastes. Field observations and measurements allow us to look for links between land use and its effects on water quality. By collecting and analyzing data from a local source we can approach a community situation in a way very similar to the approach used by practicing scientists