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 | | This is called the hydrological, or water cycle: | |
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Carbon Dioxide, Smoke, Sulfur
Water is sometimes known as the universal solvent . It has a tendency to dissolve a little bit of everything it touches. Dust, smoke from industry, carbon dioxide, spores and smog may be absorbed by water droplets. |
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Acid Rain
For example, if it dissolves sulfur from industrial smokestacks, it can form acid rain. This increases its capacity to dissolve other substances. The water vapor in clouds eventually condenses and falls back to earth as rain, sleet, hail or snow. |
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Calcium, Hydrogen Sulfide, Iron, Magnesium, Sodium, Radioactivity
As water runs over the surface it can become cloudy, even muddy. Then, as water seeps down through the ground, it may dissolve a little bit of the minerals and other substances that could be present. |
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Odor, TCE, PCB, Trihalomethanes
By the time water returns to rivers, lakes or underground aquifers, it may have accumulated amounts of the elements it has contacted. |
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Fungicides, Herbicides, Insecticides
Along the way bacteria, chemicals, agricultural byproducts, fertilizers, insecticides and other man-made wastes may also enter the water. Even after reaching a home, it can continue to dissolve materials such as lead from solder in plumbing pipes |
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