Water is the basic source needed for life. It is irreplaceable and invaluable. The total water reserves are estimated at 1.36 billion cubic kilometers. Water is necessary not only for our health but also for hygiene and industry. On our planet, 95.5% of all water is encompassed in seas and oceans, 4.5% constitutes sweet water and approximately 0.001% of water is a part of the atmosphere. Between these three kinds of water reserves is a mutual relation – a circulation that we call the water cycle.

From the oceans and the seas evaporates every year about 502 800 km3 of water into the atmosphere. However, if in spite of this the water level of the oceans and the seas doesn’t decrease, it means that they are sufficiently supplied with water from precipitation and water streams. Hence there is some redistribution of water on our planet.

Warm sunrays cause evaporation from the sea water surface. This water in the form of vapour rises until it condensates due to the cool air and a cloud is formed. This water is then returned to the oceans and the seas in the form of precipitation. This phenomenon is called the small water cycle. However, if the air flow causes the clouds to move above the continent, the precipitation falls there. After the water falls down, it trickles down the earth surface and water streams are formed or the water seeps into the soil. Plants take water from the soil and transform it into water vapour. The rest of the seeped water forms underground rivers. These rivers spring forth on the surface and feed the water streams.

We pollute water by performing many activities in industry, agriculture, mines, and by household waste. Many communities discharge directly into the nature the polluted water without clearing it. This water contains a significant amount of organic substances that cause excessive reproduction of algae and are a source of infections. But such water contains also dangerous chemical elements that are toxic for living organisms. Due to the polluted water the ecosystem is affected within which are affected the food chains from which some animals are withering away.

The accessibility of drinking water is different in each country. As much as 1/3 of countries don’t have accessible sources of the drinking water and suffer from its shortage. Since 1900 the water intake increased sevenfold and is permanently increasing. The highest water consumption is in agriculture (67%) where it is used for irrigation of crops and watering of animals. Because of that it is important for this economy branch to manage on water with deliberation. Another sector is industry (20%). The highest water intake is in paper, chemical and agriculture-food industry. The household consumption constitutes only about 13% of the overall world water intake.

Although there is enough of sweet water, many sources of the overground and underground water are polluted. Since also the soil is contaminated by agricultural, industrial and communal waste, it is ceasing to fulfill its function of a natural filter.

Recycling waste waters makes it possible to provide water for regions that suffer from its shortage. The recycled water is used for irrigation, in industry, for electricity production and most of all for the undergroung water sources recovery. The most recent technologies make it possible to obtain through recycling also the drinking water.

Water clearing is done in several phases. It depends on the water source. The most common procedure is pumping the water from a source of a river, a lake, etc. The next step is clearing the water by filtering out impurities. Then flocculation and defecation follow by means of which the water is rid of organic substances, fats and dust particles. In this way as much as 90% of the impurities is cleared away and these are led away into waste. The water is then again filtered by means of which it is rid of the last impurities such as pesticides. Next follows the water desinfenction by means of ozone and the drinking water is obtained. Further chlorine is added in order to avoid bacteria reproduction. Water is stored in water storage tanks. From there it is conveyed to the consumers. After using this water by them, it is again cleared and afterwards returned to a water source.

In our township the building of canalization was finished in 2010. In the township on the stream Lupcianka there is a sewage tank that covers the needs of our residents. It is only up to them to behave in a responsible manner and to join the public canalization and thus to protect one of our biggest treasures – water.

One of the results of the air pollution is acid rainfall. This is due to releasing sulphur and nitrogen oxides that are transformed in the atmosphere into the sulphur and nitric acids. Through the acid rainfall these acids get into the soil and thus water is contaminated. The health state of organisms gets gradually worse. The consequences of the influence of the acids contained in the rainfall can be observed in the forests but also on damaged buildings, the nutrients are vanishing from the soil, the toxic metals are absorbed through the root system of plants and thus get in the form of food into the bodies of humans and also animals. Gradually also lakes and water streams are oxidized due to which die fishes, mainly salmon and trout.

The year 1990 was critical for Slovak forests since 51% acid deposition was reached. In 2000 this deposition was brought down to 16% thanks to the fact that Slovakia joined the international effort aimed at reducing the amount of emissions released into the air.

86% of the surface water fund of Slovakia constitute water streams flowing in from the surrounding countries. 14% of the water fund springs in Slovakia. This is not sufficient for our needs and thus many water ponds have been built in our territory. Our township neighbours with pumped-storage water pond Bešenová that pumps water to the Liptovská Mara reservoir which uses it, if necessary, in the water power plant for electricity generation by means of the water turbines. The Bešenová water pond also serves for catching water from excessive rainfall by means of which it protects people living in this area from fluds that were hapenning frequently until the Bešenová water pond was built. The first water power plant in Slovakia was built in 1892 in Gelnica.

The underground water is a dominant source of the drinking water in Slovakia. The amount of the underground water reserves and the ampleness of the springs are irreplacable. The height of the level and the ampleness of the springs are affected by the climate conditions, mainly by the precipitation ampleness. The exploitability of the underground water gradually increases. The largest reserves can be found in the Žitný Island. The underground water in Slovakia is most often polluted by organic substances – nitrates – that are used in agriculture as fertilizers. From among the trace elements is this water polluted mainly by aluminum and arsenic. In the past our township used the sources of the drinking water from Dúbrava. Since this water exhibited an increased concentration of antimony, our water pipes were connected to the water pipes in Demänová so that at the present time we use the water sources from this region.

The general guidelines about water started to hold in the EU in 2000. Their contents are included also in the Slovak legislation. The goal is to ensure a good state of waters, establishing monitoring programs, and so on. The main goal is to attain by 2015 a good state of waters. We have five classes of water quality. I. is a very clean water, V. is a very polluted water, II. and III. mean a favourable level.

One of the most important tasks of mankind is an economical usage of the sweet water sources. The access of all people to the drinking water will ensure an overall improvement of the health state, the level of the living environment, the social unequality and the risk of the human conflicts will decrease. By polluting water due to human activities and economical development we are destroying our Earth. A complicated situation sets in that, however, can be solved through political decisions, changes in industry and an ecological way of life. All inhabitants of the Earth should take part in these changes and thus protect it. We, the residents of Liptovský Michal, can start by connecting all households to the canalization.

• Ing. Mikuláš Hančin, správca NAPANT Liptovský Hrádok

• We and the Blue Planet, A-Agency, Ministry of the Living Environment of SR, Bratislava 2007.
• We protect the Earth, Jean-Michel Billioud, Ikar, Bratislava 2009.
• Weather, Francois Fortin, Fortuna Print, Bratislava 2003.