STSE+2+Water+Part+A

= =

Note: As we are using the same technological type assignment, the procedures are the exact same as Lab 7.5.1,thus the same instructions below are the same as the previous instruction.
=Procedure (Technological: wiki spaces): =

1) To create a wiki for this project, first go to http://www.wikispaces.com/ 2) Next click the Teacher button under Teachers & Students 3) Now click: Sign up and start your wiki 3) This will take you to a small form, fill in the form with your information. Under Make a Wiki, select yes, and give a name to it, in the next panel. Now pick your permissions, and the type of wiki, being created. 4) Once done you will be brought to your own wiki, you can then go to under the Members section to invite new members, or under the Manage Wiki section, press members, then go under permissions, then press allow membership requests, to allow people to request membership. In this panel, you can also edit the different permissions given to users. Note: Only creator's/admins can use this panel. 5) To create a page to do your project, you can either press projects under Wiki Home, or go to Pages and Files. On the top right in Pages and Files, you can press new page icon, which creates a new page. 6) To edit the new page you must be a member and can simply press Edit on the top right. Note: currently anyone can look at this wiki, if they know the URL, but only the current group using this wiki can edit/create pages. This is due to the fact it costs money to make it fully private, and it will create a lot of hassle, trying to make sure you, the teacher, can see this site to mark it. =Procedure (Technological: commenting / looking at who did what aspect of assignment) =

1) To find out who did what in this project, you can press the view revisions button. This shows every single person who worked on said page, and at what time. You can then select 2 of the revisions by pressing the select button under the Compare category. This will then show you the changes between both copies. Thus showing who added what to this page. To make it simpler, in the discussions section, we have specified who did what section. 2) To add your own comments for marking you can simply press edit, then press Comment, this will bring up a sticky note much like in our flex-book assignments. 3) To add a rubric, you can simply upload it under Pages and Files, then click upload.

=Essay =

Water is one of the main necessities for life. Despite the fact that it covers almost 70% of the Earth’s surface, only 0.7 % of that amount is available as fresh water. Luckily Canada is rich in available fresh water and it contains 9% of the world’s fresh water. Yet majority of our available fresh water sources are dirty and can be extremely harmful to us. As a result over 3 million people die each year, because of drinking unclean water [Prof. Ron Hofmann, 2012]. How safe is the water an average Canadian drinks, where does the tap water Canadians use in North York come from, and is bottled water really any better than tap water? Well don’t worry, all will be answered below.

The possibility of being affected by tap water can be compared with many other kinds of risk factors worldwide, including the chance of being involved in an accident and also developing cancer in a year. When considering the chance of being in a car accident in a year, it is about 1 in every 140 people [AksVille: 2006-2012], this is about 0.0071% possibility. Being in a car accident has a significantly more chance of happening when considering illness due to tap water which only has a possibility of 0.00001%. Even when comparing with cancer, 1 out of every 44 people [Ontario Cancer Society: 2012] have a chance of developing cancer in a year, this is about 0.0227% possibility. Therefore illness caused due to drinking tap water will have a less chance of happening to a human being considering the fact that they might get cancer or get involved in an accident in a year. This also states that tap water is safe when considering other harms that could happen to a human, but the most important fact to understand is that tap water is not safe enough, because one in 100,000 has a chance of suffering an illness attributable to tap water. When we consider the population of Canada, 34,108,752 [PublicData: 2012], this is basically 341 people who would suffer from this illness. And even though this number might look small compared to the population, we still have a possibility of being one of them. Therefore the only way tap water can be described safe is when there is no risk to human life when drinking it, which means that there should be no possible way for humans to develop any kind of sickness from drinking tap water. As we know, water and food are the most essential needs of humans, and some people would argue stating that water should be even cleaner, but what they don't realize is that there are more people who fall sick due to food poisoning than to drinking tap water. Most people would agree when saying that money is important, but everyone would agree that human safety is the most important. Therefore more research and money should be spent to ensure that tap water is as safe as possible. Even though the risks related to drinking tap water looks minute and only holds below a percent of the harm that could possibly happen to humans, it would be better if the there were no risks because then we would have to deal with one less health issue in our day to day life.



Lake Ontario, is the 8th largest body of fresh water [N. RUKAVINA AND F.M. BOYCE: 2012] as well as one of the most polluted lakes in North America. Yet it provides one of the most refreshing as well as cleanest tap water to many municipalities (an urban district), including North York. This is due to the four water treatment plants; R.C. Harris, R.L. Clark, F.J. Horgan, and the Island water treatment plant [City of Toronto: 1998-2012]. In North York, the tap water comes from R.C. Harris. R.C. Harris, also known as the Palace of Purification, is the largest water treatment facility in Toronto, and is located at the foot of Victoria Park Avenue. The R.C. Harris treats the water by going through the four simple steps of coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration. This removes any particles in the water. Then the water is treated to a high dose of chlorine, to kill any pathogens, (dangerous microorganisms). Next the water is de-chlorination (the process of removing chlorine) by adding special chemicals. Then the water is again chlorinated in the process called pre-chlorination, with not as high a dose as before, then filtered once again. After this the water is transported in pipes to water storage facilities and to the general public. All throughout this process, the water is continually checked for any pathogens, as well as any impurities, if any problems are found the water will again go through the entire process from the beginning. For all this work, the Canadian water supply charges around $2.25 per 1000L or per cubic metre [City of Toronto: 1988-2012]. That is not a lot, as many countries charge upwards of three times as much as Canadians pay on average. As such the tap water coming from Lake Ontario is not only safe to drink due to the amazing work of the palace of purification, but the price is so low, it almost seems like the water is free. The benefits of bottled water include the fact that it tastes better than tap water, has better aesthetics as it comes in a more attractive bottle and is more considered more convenient as it can be brought anywhere [G. Walton: 2008]. The benefits of tap water are that there are stricter laws to govern it's treatment, it is a lot cheaper and it never runs out as there is ample supply at homes [City of Toronto: 1998-2012]. As can be seen in figure 2, bottled water is seen as healthier in the eyes of some consumers, because water companies claim their products to be better, market it well and make it look aesthetically pleasing. Bottled water is a lot more expensive than tap water but there isn’t much difference between the water supplied as both meet or exceed government standards except for the fact that it sometimes is of a better taste [Health Canada: 2011]. On the other hand, tap water, which can be seen in figure 3, is pretty actually pretty safe as it does not cause much harm to environment. It could cause harm to humans as some chemicals can enter the water as it is oming to our houses like lead leaching from pipes but this rarely happens. The impact on the environment caused by the bottled water outweighs all its advantages. The plastic used in the bottles is mostly polyethylene terephthalate, and when the bottles are reused or placed in hot or warm conditions can sometimes make the plastic leach chemicals into the water and some of these chemicals could even be carcinogenic [J. Jemmott: 2008]. Bottled water causes damage to the environment as it requires the use of fossil fuels in packaging them, transporting them, keeping them cool and even recycling them. The greatest damage done to environment is from the disposal of these. Only 12% of the bottles are recycled and the rest end up in landfills (Figure 4), or water sources like lakes and rivers (and potentially harming fish) [G. Walton: 2008]. This can lead to choking of animals when they eat the plastic. Thus it can be safely assumed that tap water is better than bottled water as it as safe as bottled water, is a lot cheaper and is a lot less harmful to the environment.



 Water is something that is pure as in substance but has to go through several stages to be delivered clean to the humans. This delivery process is the main cause that creates a debate between tap water and bottled water, and both the methods of water deliverance have its own benefits and risk factors. In summary, tap water is considered the safest, even though one in 100,000 people become its victims every year.

Works Cited "Bottled Water FAQ." //Health Canada//. Health Canada, 05 Oct. 2011. Web. 03 June 2012. . "General Cancer Statistics at a Glance." //Cancer.ca//. Canadian Cancer Society, 8 May 2012. Web. 3 June 2012. .  Hoffman, Ron. "Water: A Precious Resource."Georges Vanier SS / University of Toronto, Toronto. Skype Interview. "HOW DO WATER TREATMENT PLANTS WORK?" //Water Quality Information//. APEC. Web. 03 June 2012. . Jemmott, Janet Majeski. "Bottled Water Vs. Tap Water." //Reader's Digest//. Reader's Digest, Feb. 2008. Web. 03 June 2012. . Karlstrom, Solvie, and Christine Dell'Amore. "Why Tap Water Is Better Than Bottled Water." //National Geographic//. National Geographic Society, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 3 June 2012. . <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">Walton, Geri. "Pros and Cons: Tap Water Versus Bottled Water." //New Wrinkles//. 30 Aug. 2008. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.newrinkles.com/index.php/health/pros-and-cons-tap-water-versus-bottled-water>. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"Water." //City of Toronto: Toronto Water//. City of Toronto. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.toronto.ca/water/>. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">Wegener, Scott. "Odds for Various Scenarios." //Lottery Odds//. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.scottware.com.au/tickets/odds.htm>. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance-Google Public Data Explorer." Chart. //World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance-Google Public Data Explorer//. World Bank, 23 May 2012. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.google.ca/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_>.