The days slip through my fingers as I search for a topic for this month's column. How to begin? You close your eyes. You take a deep breath before the keyboard, beyond the computer screen. You open your eyes, and the first thing you see is a glass of water. You remember the doctor's advice to stay hydrated. You remember that water is generous; once liquid, it molds itself to the shape it is given. It has many facets, from sweet to salty, from solid to gaseous. The existence of humankind and countless other species is inconceivable without its presence and that of its cycle, known as the hydrological cycle, which comprises several stages.
There is the phenomenon of evaporation, mainly from the oceans. This is followed by condensation, which then leads to precipitation, continued by percolation, infiltration into the soil, and drainage into lakes, rivers, and seas, completing the cycle. Because it is the most common liquid in our lives, water goes almost unnoticed, despite making up nearly 70% of our body mass, being in the saliva in our mouths, in the tears that run down our faces, in the glass we use to quench our thirst as soon as we wake up, on our faces to wake us up, in the coffee to get us going, in the rain or the humidity of a scorching day, in the coolness or the scorching heat of the breeze, controlling the planet's climate.
Water, subjected to the addition or removal of energy, is part of our daily lives, and that's where things get complicated. The water in the glass smiles mischievously at me. In some respects, it is a substance that presents itself as normal: it is solid at low temperatures and, with increasing temperatures, passes through the liquid and vapor states. In other respects, water is complex and atypical. Its anomaly owes much to its molecular structure, governed in particular by a network of hydrogen bonds, which form aggregates in the liquid phase, collapse and re-establish themselves due to thermal agitation as energy is added, influencing essential properties such as surface tension, specific heat and solubility, and characterizing it as a universal solvent. Water has unique physicochemical properties, being present in practically all productive activities, especially agricultural and industrial ones.
With economic and industrial development, water reuse is imperative. The challenge also lies in the treatment of effluents from industrial activity, ensuring that disposal into the environment goes beyond legislation regarding disposal and return to water bodies, highlighting concerns about the preservation of water sources. We cannot forget 2024, the year in which the Piracicaba River received industrial waste with a high organic load, spreading for 70 km and causing the death of more than 200 fish. The image of schools of fish floating still lingers in our memory, but there is another image that is not so visible, as pollution also impacts our daily lives without us realizing it, starting with contaminated water bodies that supply agriculture, aiming at food production through, among other things, irrigation. Crop yields are increased with adequate irrigation, ensuring good quality, which considers the degree of toxicity inherent in the addition of agricultural inputs to increase crop productivity. It is inevitable, in this case, to encounter pesticides, agricultural chemicals, plant protection products, or any other name, as no designation will prevent the contamination of river basins. One cannot ignore the reality of an unequal country, where thousands seek their livelihood in agriculture, whose polluting burden cannot be attributed to the water that springs from the sweaty faces of workers, but to the awareness of what needs to be done.
I open the window and am confronted with waste; I see people washing sidewalks, cars, leaving taps running, unaware that the distribution of fresh water is unequal on the planet. In some regions, it is scarce. On the other hand, blessed are the nations that possess aquifers, for they store potable water. The wasted water I see comes from the Guarani Aquifer System (SAG), one of the largest underground reservoirs of fresh water on Earth, with approximately 1,2 million km² and the capacity to supply more than 20 million people. They are unaware that the SAG is threatened by the abusive use of pesticides and the dumping of vinasse, which contaminate groundwater. They are unaware that the SAG nourishes four South American countries: 71% of its area is in Brazil, 19% in Argentina, 6% in Paraguay, and 4% in Uruguay. The SAG (Sanitation and Aggregate Management System) in Brazil runs through the veins and arteries of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. The limited freshwater reserves on the planet, the growing demand for human consumption, and the restrictions that must be imposed on effluents are driving the adoption of strategies aimed at maximizing the use of water resources and minimizing the negative impacts caused by discarded waste and the handling of harmful additives. Therefore, the management of water availability, encompassing the use of water for potable purposes, in agriculture, and in industrial processes, is vital.
Providing treated water and sewage is a global and borderless challenge, as approximately 4 billion people, half the world's population, suffer from severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. Access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent 1,4 million deaths each year. To say that water is life is not a cliché, as it is an unequivocal condition for survival in so many ways, starting with our own species. Water is also art. This life-giving liquid inspires creative minds like that of Belo Serge, who used 66,000 biodegradable cups containing rainwater to create a mosaic of just over 300 m² to denounce water scarcity on the planet. Vegetable dyes were also added to the water to highlight its pollution. Belo's cups depict a body nestled in a womb, which could be any one of us.
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