The water balance is the relationship that exists between all the water resources that enter a system and all the resources that leave the same system in a certain time period.
The water balance is the relationship between all the water resources that enter a system and the total resources that leave the same system in a certain period of time.
In order to perfectly understand the meaning of the concept, it is necessary to first proceed to analyze the etymological origin of the two words that give it shape:
- Balance derives from a French word that is synonymous with "balance."
- Hydric is a word that comes from Greek and is the result of the sum of two clearly delimited components such as the noun hydor (which is synonymous with "water" ) and the suffix -ico (which is used to indicate "relative to" ).
What is water balance
The concept of balance can be used with reference to the swaying of an object that moves alternately to each side. The notion also refers to the economic analysis of monetary income and expenditure and the comparison made of a situation to draw a conclusion. Hydric , for its part, is that which is linked to water as an element that appears in nature.
These definitions allow us to approach the notion of water balance , although first it is necessary to clearly establish what material balance is. It is a method of mathematics based on the law of conservation of matter , which indicates that matter is neither destroyed nor created: it is simply transformed.
Respecting these principles, the material balance considers that the mass found in a closed system remains constant (with the exception of atomic or nuclear reactions and matter that reaches a speed close to the speed of light). Thus, when mass enters a system, it must accumulate in it or leave it (input equals accumulation plus output).
A water system can be a lagoon , a river , a dam or even a person's body, to name a few possibilities. If we take the case of a lake, the input of water resources can be produced by rainfall, the transfer of water from a water basin or the contribution of groundwater , while the output of resources can be due to evaporation, extraction by part of the human being, infiltrations, etc.
Water balance is also important in the human body.
The concept in health
It must be established that within the field of health the concept of water balance is also used. Exactly, it is used to refer to the balance that exists between the water resources that reach the body and those that leave it in a given period of time . In this way the body has the amount of fluid it needs to function normally.
It is considered, in this case, that the water that reaches the body does so both through the liquids that are ingested and also through the foods that are eaten. In this way, it is established that the entry of liquid into the body is usually between 2,100 and 2,900 milliliters . Of that amount, you lose about 2,400 milliliters a day due to sweat, urine, feces...
The balance, therefore, can be altered by specific situations such as vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding and excessive sweating.