Water Facts

Water Facts
* Three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, yet 98 percent is salt water and not fit for consumption.
* Less than 1% of all the water on Earth is freshwater usable for human consumption.
* More water is stored underground in aquifers than on the earths surface.
* The US uses about 350,000 gallons of water every day.
* The Us uses about 80% of its water for irrigation and thermoelectric power.
* There are 1.6 million deaths per year attributed to dirty water and poor sanitation (World Watch; World Health Organization)
* The average person in the US uses about 80 gallons of water per day. Toilet flushing takes up the largest amount of this water.
* Less than 1% of the worlds fresh water is accessible for direct human use.
* Humans can live for 7 or more weeks without food but hardly a week without water.
* The water cycle has 5 parts: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, and surface run-off.
* At any one time, it is estimated that half the world’s hospital beds are occupied with patients suffering from waterborne diseases. (WSCC, 2004)
* In a hundred year period a water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about 2 weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere.
* Water is the greatest factor in regulating the earths temperature.
* Water is the only element found on the earth that naturally occurs in three forms: gas, liquid, and solid.
* Over 90% of the worlds fresh water supply is in Antarctica.
* An average tree will give off 70 gallons of water a day in evaporation.
* It takes 2,072 gallons of water to make four new tires.
* It takes about 2 gallons of water to brush your teeth, 2 to 7 gallons to flush a toilet (but please don’t stop flushing…), and 30 to 60 gallons to take a shower.