Friends ! Do you know water is very important for us. Without water we cannot live. All living beings need water to live. We need water for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes and cleaning various things. Water is also used for making electricity. Plants and animals also need water to live. Some animals like fishes live in water. So we should not waste water. We should store water in a clean utensil. We see water everywhere. It is most common substance on earth. It covers more than two-third part of the earth's surface. It is found in lake, ponds, rivers and oceans. Rain and snow are the main source of water. It is collected in lakes, rivers, underground and wells. Underground water can be drawn out through hand stops and tube wells. Water is transparent and colourless. It has no tast, no shape and no smell. It take the shape of the container in which it is put. Water exists in three forms__ Solid, Liquid and Gas. It can change from one form to another if we keep the water in a freezer of a refrigerator, it will change into ice. Ice is a solid form of water. If we heat water, it changes into water vapour or stream. Stream is a gaseous form of the water. Changing of water into water vapours on heating is called Evaporation. Changing of water vapours into water on cooling is called Condensation. Water is a flowing substance. Water keep on changing its form in nature too. Due to the heat of the sun water form the surface of lakes, riverr, oceans and ponds changes into water vapour. This process is called Evaporation. The warm air near the ground carries the water vapour into the sky. High up in the sky, the cold air makes the water vapour cool. It is called Condensation. It turn into tiny drops of water. These tiny drops together form clouds. We receive rain from these clouds and is stored in lakes, rivers oceans etc. This is a continuous on-going process. This process is called Water-Cycle. If the water is boiled for 10 minutes, all the germs are killed. Water that is boiled and cooled is safe for drinking. We can use some chemicals like chlorine, bleaching powder, potassium permanganate etc to kill germs present in water. Is is also safe for drinking. In the cities and towns, water is supplied to the houses through pipelines. This water is stored in the storage tanks. This water is filtered and purified. We get this water through the taps in our houses. So friends ! We should always drink only fresh water in a clean glass and always keep water covered and should not waste water because this is very important for our life.
