You turn the tap and do not think about it
Until a hosepipe ban or a boil notice makes you.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
Where does tap water come from and why do shortages happen
Follow the water from the sky to your tap and back.
Trace the local supply from source through treatment and delivery, then distinguish it from the wider water cycle. Rainfall alone does not tell you how much usable water a city can supply. Sources, infrastructure, demand and operating conditions all matter.
Want new features first?
A starting goal
I want to understand where the water in my tap comes from, how it gets cleaned and delivered, why shortages happen, and what it will take to keep water flowing as the climate changes.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Read a real source map
Singapore's PUB identifies four national sources: local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water. That is a named local example of a diversified supply, not a template that every city follows. Find the equivalent current explanation from your own supplier.
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Follow one pathway
For local catchment water, ask how rain reaches waterways and reservoirs, where treatment occurs and how water reaches users. For desalination, the starting source is seawater and the treatment task differs. Distinguishing source from treatment prevents the phrase "tap water" from hiding several different processes.
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Check a shortage claim
Does a headline concern rainfall, stored water, treatment capacity, pipe failures or demand? Those are different possible constraints. A rainy week alone cannot answer all of them. Avoid transferring winter-versus-summer rainfall rules from one climate to another, or inferring your tap's exact mixture from a national source list.
Sources: PUB: Singapore's four national water sources. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- Environment & climate
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons
- Pace
- Yours. One lesson at a time, as often as you like.
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store and Google Play, with an optional early testing list
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- Do you know where your own water comes from: rivers, reservoirs, groundwater, or desalination?
- Is this curiosity, worry about shortages, or a decision about your own use?
- What do you want to understand most: the natural cycle, the engineering, or the politics?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
Shortages confuse you
It rains all the time, so how can there be a drought?
You want to follow the climate story
Floods, droughts and water wars, and how they connect.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06The water cycle, for real
Not the school diagram: timescales, stores and flows.
Sources
Rivers, reservoirs, aquifers and the sea.
Treatment and delivery
What happens between the source and the tap.
Why shortages happen
Storage, demand, leaks and the wrong rain at the wrong time.
Water and climate
Droughts, floods and a cycle that is speeding up.
What can be done
Storage, efficiency, pricing and your own use.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Understand the cycle
Rain, rivers, groundwater and the sea, and how long water spends in each.
Know where yours comes from
Sources, treatment and the pipes between them.
Explain shortages
Demand, storage, leaks and timing, and why wet places run dry.
Ask a local climate question
Examine how changing rainfall and other conditions affect the specific supply system.
Ideas this course corrects
A wet place cannot experience a supply shortage
Usable supply also depends on storage, treatment, infrastructure and demand. Examine the local constraint.
Every household has the same best water-saving action
Start with local guidance and actual use or leaks. Do not assume a universal sector share or savings estimate.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
Where does tap water come from and why do shortages happen: what can I do today?
Read a real source map. Singapore's PUB identifies four national sources: local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water. That is a named local example of a diversified supply, not a template that every city follows. Find the equivalent current explanation from your own supplier. Follow one pathway. For local catchment water, ask how rain reaches waterways and reservoirs, where treatment occurs and how water reaches users. For desalination, the starting source is seawater and the treatment task differs. Distinguishing source from treatment prevents the phrase "tap water" from hiding several different processes. Check a shortage claim. Does a headline concern rainfall, stored water, treatment capacity, pipe failures or demand? Those are different possible constraints. A rainy week alone cannot answer all of them. Avoid transferring winter-versus-summer rainfall rules from one climate to another, or inferring your tap's exact mixture from a national source list.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
Trace the local supply from source through treatment and delivery, then distinguish it from the wider water cycle. Rainfall alone does not tell you how much usable water a city can supply. Sources, infrastructure, demand and operating conditions all matter. It sits under Environment & climate in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Most courses run 7 to 30 lessons. The course length is sized to what you asked for. You set the pace: one lesson at a time, as often as you like. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
A starting goal
I want to understand where the water in my tap comes from, how it gets cleaned and delivered, why shortages happen, and what it will take to keep water flowing as the climate changes.
Want new features first?