Interesting Things

Did you know?

-that the Romans called Lake Balaton simply Lacus Pelso, and built farms and villas on the shore, planted vine on the slopes of the northern lakeside.
-that the Slavic people called the “Hungarian sea” Balaton, obviously due to its extended swamps. The settling Hungarians took the grounds around the lake after a few battles and settled: formed villages, built churches and monasteries.
-that in every village of Somogy and Baranya, there are functioning waterworks.
-that there is a sewage station in 41 villages of Baranya County.
-that there is a sewage network in 28 villages in Somogy County.
-that the more significant water-bases are around Drava.

-that the water-bases in Baranya are mostly stratum water based.
-in the area of Baranya County, there are 75 vulnerable water-bases.
-in the area of Somogy County, there are 27 vulnerable water-bases.
-that the subsurface waters include ground water, stratum water, karstic water, crack water and well water filtered by gravel rivershores
-that sewage and wastewater treatment are elements of village infrastructure that need intensive improvement.
-that there are 32 hot water springs in Baranya, and 48 in Somogy County.
-Qualified medicinal waters in Somogy County are in Nagyatád, Csokonyvisonta, Csisztapuszta, Kaposvár, Igal, Nagyberény and Harkány.
-that there are 420 lakes in Somogy County, whose surface area totals 4129 hectares, their volume amounts 59 million cubic meters.
-that seventeen of the artificial lakes in Somogy County serve recreational purposes.
that there are 260 lakes in Baranya County, out of which 15 are for wellness purposes, their total surface area amounts 2663 hectares and their overall volume is 41,5 million cubic meters
-that river Drava is passable and navigable up to 196 river kilometers, and its section between 70-237 fkm (Drávaszabolcs-Őrtilos) is shared with Croatia. 
-that protection against flooding is ensured by the dyke along the Danube and the Mohács Wall between the border and Mohács (19.9 kilometers), and that there is a dyke along the Drava, between Tótújfalu and Gyűrűspuszta (87,4 kilometers).

Water – an essential element

Water is a fundamental material of the world, but 97 percent of it is sea, therefore unsuitable for human consumption. Two thirds of the remaining three percent are glaciers or present in the form of snow and ice. Therefore only one percent of the water is directly usable.

Without water there is no life. Fortunately, nature works in a way that the existing, usable water supply is recycled: the falling rain gets into rivers and then ends up in the oceans, and then evaporates, forming clouds, just to begin the whole cycle again. Unfortunately – and this is where the problems start occurring – the distribution of the water supply is uneven. In countries like Canada, Austria or Ireland, there is more of this nurturing element than needed, while in Australia, the Middle-East of the northern part of China, there is not enough.
Yet in other countries, such as India or Bangladesh, rain is seasonal, the whole yearly amount pouring down in a couple of months. It is difficult and expensive to get water into scarce areas, since water is heavy and difficult to transport.

The other universal problem regarding water is that it is being wasted, and since the very beginnings water has always been underrated in practice.

However it is known that the collection, purification, storage, and sewage treatment cost incredible amounts of money. The recognition of the water problem is going mind-blowingly slowly: the Kyoto World Congress was the first forum where it was dealt with seriously. In August 2002, on the Johannesburg Summit Conference people decided that by 2015, they will halve the number of people deprived of clean, healthy water. Today, in developing countries, about one billion people cannot get sufficient water supply, and there are about 2.2 billion who cannot get water for washing and cleaning.  

The Economist, analysing regularly the world’s water supply, talks about other issues as well. People demonstrating against globalism have stated such offenses as the uncorrected and unlevelled growth, and that the increasing wealth of some countries leads to the shortage of water. 

Green Days

February 1. Memory day of the wildlife of Tisza river- 59/2000. (VI.16.) OGY h. 10. -
February 2. World Wetlands Day
March 22. World Water Day
March 23. World Meteorological Day
April 22. Earth Day
May 10. Day of Birds and Trees
May 22. The National Day of Biological Diversity ENSZ 200. 12.
May 24. Day of European National Parks
June 5. World Environment Day
June 17. World Day for the Fight Against Draught and Desertification
September 16. World Ozone Day
the 3rd sautrday of september World Cleaning Day
October 1. World Habitat Day
October 5. World Animal Day
October 21. For Our Earth-World Day