Steps of the Water Cycle

Nature has an amazing way of recycling all its elements. If you notice nature never wastes even one iota of anything, it saves it entire, be it water, air or organic fertility. If man would not have meddled with nature’s ways we wouldn’t have had problems of water pollution, ozone layer depletion or global warming because nature knows the way to maintain ecological balance. Water Cycle is one of those processes wherein water is recycled again and again.

What is Water Cycle?

It is the continuous movement of water from the surface of the earth, that is the water bodies on surface of the earth to air and vice versa. This is an unending circle of precipitation that is being formed, absorbed and being created in multiple states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.

Step Of water Cycle

• The water from the water bodies of the earth evaporates by using the heat of the sun and turns in to water vapor that is the gaseous form of water. The water vapor rises in to the air.
• The next step is that the water vapor when it rises above the hot atmosphere of earth, it stars cooling. Due to the cooling of water vapor, the water vapor again changes into tiny droplets of water, which form clouds as the next step.
• In the third step these tiny water droplets become bigger and bigger as a result of which the clouds bearing them become more and more heavier and when they become too heavy for the clouds to hold any more, the rain falls from the clouds. If the atmosphere is cold enough then the form of precipitation changes from rain to snow and sleet.
• In the last step the rain or the melted snow flows back into the water bodies like rivers, lakes and streams. The river eventually takes the water towards the oceans, which are the biggest water bodies and the biggest source of water vapor. It takes approximately nine days to complete water cycle and it keeps o repeating itself again and again.

Processes involved in the Water Cycle

The processes that are involved in the Water Cycle are as follows:

• Evaporation- The process of water converted to water vapor due to the heat of the sun.
• Condensation- The vapor cools and the vapor is transformed into tiny droplets of water again as the temperature decreases.
• Precipitation- Water comes back to the surface of the Earth in the form of rain, snow and hail.
• Run Off- When some water stays on the surface of the earth and the rest flows into the water bodies like rivers, lakes, reservoirs, it is called run-off.
• Percolation- When the water on the surface of the earth seeps down underground it is called Percolation. It later forms aquifers in the low-lying regions.

The water cycle helps in providing the right amount of water at the right times and at the required places. It helps in agriculture and some water is also stored underground so that it can be used when there is no precipitation.