Palestra

Lecture: The underground waters

Speeker: Mr. Osvaldo Henrich Filho, geologist, Tapera resident, Date 10/17/2001, Objective: RiverWalk Project

Lecture Abstract

It started at 10 AM and it was attended by 5th and 6th grade students from Escola 8 de Maio. At first he lectured about the water in our planet and he told us that 78% of the planet is water and only 20% of this amount is fresh water. That’s why it is so important to save it. Although there are methods to take the salt away from the sea water, it’s still too complex and expensive. In this scenario, Brazil is a privileged country and so is Rio Grande do Sul. The state has plenty of rain all over the year that allows it to export water to other neighbor countries. The students wanted to know how the rivers were originated. They were told that the rivers are the result of natural geologic reactions. But nowadays that can be an artificial process too, as it happens with the Tapera’s changed route. The channeling was necessary in order to avoid floods downtown. Another question: how are the springs are formed? They happen to be when the rainwater cannot go deep in the ground because of hard rocks in its way. In this case, the water stays in the low portion of the ground and floats as springs. When there is plenty of water it flows, causing rivers. The population growth and the increased water needs are lessening the amount of water in the rivers. The problems are worsened by the bad conservation around them.