Ways Of Water

Water is the source of life. But the quality of water can vary, and there are several measurements that say something about a water body's health. Probably the most known is how pH measure how acidic or basic water is, but there are others too. The temperature can be very important, changes can affect the ability of water to hold oxygen as well as the ability of organisms to resist certain pollutants.

Specific conductance is a measure of the ability of water to conduct an electrical current, and will give a good idea of the amount of dissolved material in the water. Next, turbidity is the amount of particulate matter that is suspended in water, which makes the water cloudy. It is measured by how light shines through the water.

Although water molecules contain an oxygen atom, this oxygen is not what is needed for those who live in water. A small amount of oxygen is actually dissolved in water, and is breathed by fish and other living organisms.

Rapidly moving water, such as in a mountain stream or large river, tends to contain a lot of dissolved oxygen, while stagnant water contains little. Life can have a hard time in stagnant water, that has a lot of rotting material in it. At last, one can determine the "hardness" of a water by measuring the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in it.

So, healthy water is neither to acid nor basic, it's free from pollution and waste, not too soft, not too hard, and most importantly - it runs freely. In stagnant water hardly anything thrive, and some of it that does are dangers like mosquitoes, parasites and harmful bacteria. There's a beautiful exception though, and that's the Lotus flower, which also has it's own symbolic value. When I came this far in my water "research" I was a little disappointed, it didn't fit into my metaphor and how water needs to be flowing. But after thinking hard I came up with the solution:

The stagnant waters that lotuses prefer aren't made over the night, these are natural evolutions that has taken a long time to develop. They're not man-made trapped waters in some tank, nor are they ground or surface water stagnation due to poor drainage or excessive watering.

A habitat like that must somehow found just the right balance to keep on living, and provide a home for a wonder like the sacred waterlily. And one condition is that there has to be enough ambient sun.

This post could go on for ever and ever, as the river does.

Waves and ice.

Diving and drowning.

Life.

Thanks to USGS for some of the facts...