The natural world is full of magic, and one of these spells is the water cycle. We’re often taught about the water cycle in science classes, but it never hurts to have a refresher!

Although the information on the water cycle can be easily condensed, let’s try and provide some extra details for you to enjoy.

Step One: Evaporation

When we walk by lakes and rivers, swim in the sea, or jump in muddy puddles, we are often so preoccupied that we don’t realise what’s going on behind the scenes.

All water on the earth is constantly being evaporated by the sun, causing it to rise into the air. This is why we have humid air on a hot day after rain.

Akin to evaporation, we also have transpiration. This is largely the same process, but this directly relates to the water that enters the atmosphere that comes from plants and trees.

Step Two: Condensation

As the water begins to rise from evaporation and transpiration, it begins to cool in the air; this causes the water vapour to turn back into liquid, creating the cloud that we see meandering through the sky.

The best way to envision this process would be when you see condensation on your windows! This is water vapour lining your windows, cooling down, and then trickling down the glass once it has become a liquid again.

The wind then carried the clouds along as more droplets of water gather from behind, this is what causes our clouds to have some weird, fantastic, and sometimes coincidentally familiar shapes.

Step Three: Precipitation

Once the cloud becomes too full of water, after travelling and picking up condensed water from across the water sources it passes over, it begins to fall from the sky as rain, or if it’s cold enough, snow!

As the renewed water rains down, the lakes and oceans are replenished on the surface. Glaciers allow the water to wash them away, replacing themselves with the fresh rain. Water that falls near lakes and oceans are also able to trickle back in.

So why is the water cycle so important?

The cycle is important for keeping our own manufactured cycle alive! Without this constant recycling of water, we wouldn’t be able to continue our treatment processes.

We also need to cycle to monitor the soil in nature, to keep our forests and natural wildlife alive.

Scientists also use clouds to monitor the earth’s atmospheric water, allowing them to monitor climate.

On the subject of the climate, without the water cycle, the earth’s oceans would be rising much more rapidly due to the melting of the ice caps

So there you have it, a slightly more in-depth look at the water cycle, and why we depend on it in some ways!

Here at Total Soft Water, we like to be a part of our own little water cycle! Our water filters and water softeners offer crystal clear quality. If you would like more information, you can always give us a call on 01462 455772.