Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Introduction
Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have
become global garbage cans.
—Jacques Cousteau (1901-1997)
When color photographs of the earth as it appears from space were first
published, it was a revelation: they showed our planet to be astonish-
ingly beautiful. We were taken by surprise. What makes the earth so
beautiful is its abundant water. The great expanses of vivid blue ocean
with swirling, sunlit clouds above them should not have caused sur-
prise, but the reality exceeded everybody's expectations. The pictures
must have brought home to all who saw them the importance of water
to our planet.
—E.C. Pielou (1998)
Water is fundamental for all life and health. The human right to water is
indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a prereq-
uisite to the realization of all other human rights.
—United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural,
and Social Rights (November 27, 2002)
Setting the Stage
Water is a contradiction, a riddle. Why? Consider the Chinese proverb that
“water can both float and sink a boat.” Water's presence everywhere feeds
these contradictions. Lewis (1996) pointed out that “water is the key ingredi-
ent of mother's milk and snake venom, honey and tears” (p. 90). Leonardo da
Vinci gave us insight into more of water's apparent contradictions:
Water is sometimes sharp and sometimes strong, sometimes acid and
sometimes bitter.
Water is sometimes sweet and sometimes thick or thin.
Water sometimes is seen bringing hurt or pestilence, sometimes health-
giving, sometimes poisonous.
1
