TOAST TO THE TAP: THE WATER WE DRINK

This is the title for the unit 4.  In the introduction, there is one question which read as: What do toast and tap mean? Well, according to the Farlex Dictionary, in this case (toast) means  

a. The act of raising a glass and drinking in honor of or to the health of a person or thing.

b. A proposal to drink to someone or something or a speech given before the taking of such a drink.

c. The one honored by a toast.

2. A person receiving much attention or acclaim: the toast of Broadway.

v. toast·ed, toast·ing, toasts

v.tr.                                         

To drink to the health or honor of.

v.intr.

To propose or drink a toast.

While (tap) means

1. a cylindrical plug or stopper for closing an opening through which liquid is drawn, as in a cask; spigot.

2. a faucet or cock.

And with these two meanings well learned, we already know what the unit is about and what exactly means the unit title. In another words, it means a drinking in honor to the tap which provides drinking water or portable water.

Even though in developed countries taps which provide drinking water or potable water are dependable, a discontent wave has been spreading among consumers who think drinking water is not as it was before and for that reason people have decided to drink bottled water.

The Dominican Republic is not the exception; here we have been a lot of troubles with drinking water since long time ago due to certain class which is interested in doing business with it. While the State looks the other way, we, consumers are condemned to be their slaves.  For instance, there are like 10 or 15 water treatment plants registered but there are a lot of them which are not registered that do not meet the quality control. Another problem we, citizen have to face is mining and why do I say this? Because it is our biggest trouble due to freshwater from the rivers are threatened by extraction of gold and silver from mines.  

This processing consumes million water gallons and contaminates the rivers, vegetation, and wildlife killing undetermined number of fish, microorganisms, and mangroves that make our wildlife which are essential to our ecosystem. Even people blame the government, first we have to analyze that without the government help would be very difficult for us to get water, and why do I say this? Because government supplies pipes by which water is transported to our homes. However, people blame the government by poor water quality and they do not know the State invests a lot of money to treat the water we consume while water treatment plants do not invest a nickel                 to bring the water from ponds or dams where is treated with chlorine and others chemical to make it drinking water.

It is not awkward to find those water treatment plants established close to aqueduct reservoirs from where they take water already cleaned and disinfected by the State. Then the water treatment plans convey that water to process it with different other nutrients to deliver it to the public.

Why is water so important?

Water is so important because is presented on earth in 70% and life would not be possible without it in this planet. It serves as conveyor of food, hydrates the body, and regulates the body temperature

Properties of water

Water (H₂O) is the most abundant compound on Earth's surface, covering about 70 percent of the planet. In nature, water exists in liquid, solid, and gaseous states. It is in dynamic equilibrium between the liquid and gas states at standard temperature and pressure. At room temperature, it is a tasteless and odorless liquid, nearly colorless with a hint of blue. Many substances dissolve in water and it is commonly referred to as the universal solvent. Because of this, water in nature and in use is rarely pure and some of its properties may vary slightly from those of the pure substance. However, there are also many compounds that are essentially, if not completely, insoluble in water. Water is the only common substance found naturally in all three common states of matter and it is essential for all life on Earth.^[4] Water usually makes up 55% to 78% of the human body. In keeping with the basic rules of chemical nomenclature, water would have a systematic name of dihydrogen monoxide, but this is not among the names published by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and, rather than being used in a chemical context, the name is almost exclusively used as a humorous way to refer to water.