Personal Essay: The Water Cycle

While all cycles play an equal role in sustaining life on this planet, the water cycle has perhaps the most direct connection to my day-to-day life. The cycle, in essence, starts with the heat of the sun, which converts some of the liquid water of the oceans, lakes and rivers into vapor. This water vapor condenses to form clouds, which later returns to the surface of the earth as precipitation, mainly in the form of rain or snow. Some of the water makes its way to aquifers underneath the surface, but most of it evaporates, and thus the cycle continues (Doršner, 2016, p. 96). I am dependent on water in almost all aspects of my life. This should not come as a surprise to anyone as all living beings require water in order to survive. I personally use water to drink, cook, clean, and water plants. As the

The urban landscape does not allow precipitation to percolate into the soil, since the various buildings, houses, roads and bridges hinder the process simply by existing. The problem lies in that the reserves will be depleted over time when little or no water refills underground wells anymore. As a city dweller, I am guilty of being partly responsible for disrupting the water cycle in this way. To compensate for my impact, I can be more careful about how much water I use. Furthermore, I can reuse water whenever possible. Gray water, for example, which is the relatively clean water from sinks, baths and washing machines, could be used again for watering plants instead of wasting it and letting it go down the drain (Markham, 2014). Likewise, I can mitigate my indirect effect on global warming and, subsequently, on the water cycle, by giving up on cars and buses and choosing a greener method of transportation instead. One such method that immediately comes to mind is the bicycle; it's cheap, compact, easy to use, and above all,