the water cycle
Ref: B02

Water is the single most important thing in the world. All living things depend on it. Humans are no exception and rely on a steady supply of clean water for their well being. The major difference - in the UK - is that fresh water is generally supplied by the regional Water Company. The local rivers and streams are the source of much of that water.

Colliford Reservoir

Every day, 16,500 megalitres of water, equivalent to a medium sized reservoir, are put into public supply in England and Wales.

click on the image above to open/print a full size version of this diagram

We don’t own the water we use; we only borrow it. After we have used it, the water returns, treated or not, to the rivers and sea or into the ground. It evaporates from land and sea, it is drawn up into the atmosphere as water vapour, transported by winds, and falls again as rain or snow, or condenses as dew. Some of it evaporates straight back to the atmosphere, some of it soaks into the ground and is held in the rocks below; and the rest finds its way back into streams, completing the most important Cycle on Earth.

Moss covered boulders on a Bodmin Moor stream	Ancient granite bridge on De Lank River, evidence of overgrazing on the bankside
Camel Estuary mudflats with field of rape in the distance	The ocean

See more water cycle information on www.dcs.exeter.ac.uk/water/cycle.html