193 Facts About Water: Fun Facts, Water Cycle, Pollution

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Water is one of the most essential substances for life on Earth, and yet many of us take it for granted. It’s a ubiquitous resource that we use for everything from drinking and bathing to irrigating crops and generating electricity. But there’s much more to water than meets the eye.

In this article, we’ll explore 193 fascinating facts about water that you may not have known, from its unique chemical properties to its role in shaping the planet. So, let’s dive in and learn more about this precious resource!

Facts about Water

1. Water is a chemical substance composed of two hydrogens and one oxygen atoms. The chemical formula of water is H2O.
2. The water’s freezing point increases with the amount of salt dissolved. Seawater has about -2 °C (28.4 °F) freezing point.
3. Water weighs about 8.34 pounds a gallon or 1 kilogram per liter.
4. Water is the most common substance on earth. Water is the only substance found naturally in three forms, liquid, gas, and solid.
5. There are two types of water, salt water and freshwater. Saltwater contains a high salt concentration and is undrinkable, whereas freshwater has less than 1% of dissolved salt and is drinkable.
6. About 97% of water in the earth is salty or unusable, 2% of fresh water is frozen, and the remaining 1% is in rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and beneath the ground, which is the only fresh water for humans to drink and use.
7. Most surface water is salty or frozen.
8. Water is the most important resource on earth.
9. Water can dissolve more substances than other liquids, and it is also called “universal solvent.”
10. Water regulates the temperature of Earth.

Fun Facts about Water

11. 75% of a living tree is water.
12. Cucumber and jellyfish are about 95% water.
13. The amount of water on Earth is about the same as when the Earth was created.
14. Water expands by about 9% when frozen.
15. Ice (frozen water) is lighter than water, so it floats in water.
16. Hand washing dishes uses five times more water than using a water-efficient dishwasher. An efficient dishwasher uses about 4 gallons of water per cycle, while hand washing uses about 20 gallons of water.
17. The atmosphere has more freshwater than all the rivers on earth combined.
18. Earth has an estimated 326 million trillion gallons of water.
19. NASA has discovered ice (frozen water) on the moon.
20. The ocean is the largest storehouse of water.
21. The precipitation that falls worldwide may range from less than 0.1 inches per year in some deserts to over 900 inches per year in some tropics.
22. One of the driest places on Earth is Iquique in Chile, where no rain fell for 14 years.
23. The wettest place in the world is Mawsynram, located in Northeastern India, which experienced an average of 494 inches of rain a year from 1989 to 2010.
24. Atlanta, Georgia, has an average of 45 inches of precipitation per year, equal to 103.2 billion gallons of water, enough to supply the needs of 2.574 million people.
25. A cycle of a sprinkler system will use 1,000 to 4,000 gallons of water depending on the yard’s size and system settings.
26. The first water pipe in the United States was made from hollowed logs.
27. Chicken is the least water-intensive meat to consume.
28. There is no scientific study that supports the recommendation to drink eight glasses of water a day.

Fun Facts about Water: Human-related

29. 66% of the human body is water.
30. 73% of the human brain and heart are water. 64% of skin, 83% of lungs, 79% of muscles and kidneys, and 31% of bones are water.
31. Humans can only survive about a week without water.
32. Thirst is to maintain the water intake of creatures.
33. Humans need water to regulate body temperature, transport nutrients and oxygen to cells, protect joints, tissues, and organs, and remove body wastes.
34. Hydration is crucial to blood circulation to allow immune system cells to reach more damaged tissues.
35. A human loses about one cup of water each day from breathing.
36. Humans lose more than 64 oz. of water each day through perspiration.
37. The weight a person loses after intense physical activity is weight from water and not fat.
38. In babies’ first six months of life, they consume seven times as much water per pound as the average adult.
39. On average, a person who lives in North Texas uses about 100 gallons of water a day at home. During Middle Ages, a person used only 5 gallons a day.
40. Over half of the water usage in a household is used in the bathroom.
41. Humans use more and more water each year.

Fun Facts about Water: Amount of Water Required

42. It takes two times more water to produce coffee than tea.
43. It takes 11 gallons of water to produce one slice of bread.
44. It takes about 12 gallons of water to sustain a human’s needs for a day.
45. It takes 18 gallons of water to produce one apple.
46. It takes 20 gallons of water to create a pint of beer.
47. It takes 70 gallons of water to fill the average bathtub, while a 5-minute shower will use 10 to 25 gallons of water.
48. It takes 120 gallons of water to produce one egg.
49. It takes 170 gallons of water to produce a gallon of corn ethanol, while to produce a gallon of gasoline only needs 5 gallons of water.
50. It takes 300 tons of water to produce 1 ton of steel.
51. It takes 330 gallons of water to produce one chicken.
52. It takes about 468 gallons of water to refine a barrel of crude oil.
53. It takes 660 gallons of water to produce a burger weighing 0.3 pounds.
54. It takes 1,008 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of wine.
55. It takes 1,321 gallons of water to produce 500 sheets of paper.
56. It takes approximately 1,700 gallons of water to grow a day’s food for a person.
57. It takes 1,799 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef.
58. It takes 3,170 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of chocolate.
59. It takes between 12,737 to 21,926 gallons of water to manufacture a new car.
60. It takes 22,000 gallons of water to fill the average pool.

Fun Facts about Water: Statistics

61. In the United States, 40% of freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture.
62. In China, 65% of freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture.
63. About 70% of global freshwater withdrawals are for agriculture.
64. 70% to 83% of a newborn baby’s weight is from water.
65. Over 80% of the world’s population lives in the driest half of the world.
66. 80% of the estimated 1.4 billion hectares of cropland across the globe is rainfed, and the rest 20% is irrigated.
67. 90% of all the frozen water (ice) in the world is in Antarctica.
68. The freshwater withdrawals used for agriculture are 97% in Madagascar, 95% in Vietnam, 94% in Pakistan and Cambodia, and 92% in Iran and Ecuador.
69. Global water usage has increased at more than twice the rate of population increases in the past century.

Water Pollution Facts

70. Three-quarters of all Americans live within 10 miles of polluted water.
71. Groundwater contamination is mainly the result of human activities.
72. The risk of aquifers in industrialized areas being contaminated by petroleum products and chemicals is significant.
73. One-third of the world’s population does not have access to safe and clean drinking water.
74. Over 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water.
75. Each year, unsafe water kills more people than any form of violence, including war.
76. Globally, over 1.8 billion people’s health is affected by untreated industrial chemicals and sewages flowing back into the ecosystem.
77. 1.8 billion people are still drinking feces-contaminated water, causing more than 502,000 diarrhoeal deaths each year.
78. 80% of the world’s wastewater is released into the environment without proper treatment.
79. Two million tons of untreated waste and sewage are released into our water every day.
80. 10% of the beaches in America are classified as unsafe for swimming due to pollution.
81. Globally, the number of dead zones (also known as low oxygen areas, where most sea animals cannot survive) has increased due to untreated sewage and agricultural runoff.
82. There are about 700 dead zones globally, close to the size of the United Kingdom.
83. The land is the largest source of marine pollution, which harms aquatic life.
84. 8% of ocean pollution is due to contaminants like heavy metals, chemicals, and nutrients.
85. Over the past century, half of the natural wetlands and many freshwater species have been lost due to the climate changes caused by water pollution and growing economic activities.
86. Wastewater treatment contributes 3 to 7 percent of global GreenHouse Gas emissions.
87. Of the 159 million people still collecting untreated drinking water directly from surface water sources, 58% lived in Sub-Saharan Africa.
88. In the United States, about 34 billion gallons of wastewater are processed across various wastewater treatment facilities each day.
89. In low and middle-income countries, 38% of healthcare facilities lack clean water sources, 35% lack soap and water for handwashing, and 19% lack improved sanitation.
90. 55% of the world’s population lacks safe sanitation facilities.
91. Water pollution will increase to distressing levels in the next decades, especially in areas battling floods and droughts.
92. 53% of streams and rivers in the United States are considered impaired by the EPA.
93. Over 18 billion pounds of plastic waste flow from coastal regions into the oceans each year.
94. In India, 70% of the surface water is unfit for drinking.
95. About 663 million people rely on water from polluted sources.

Facts about Water Waste

96. In the United States, about 20% of homes treat their water waste using septic tanks. The rest of the homes send their water waste to big treatment plants through underground pipes.
97. In high-income countries, 70% of wastewater undergoes treatment. In contrast, only 8% of wastewater undergoes treatment in low-income countries.
98. In the least developed countries, 22% of healthcare facilities do not have a waste management service.

Water Cycle Facts

99. The water cycle plays an integral role in regulating the Earth’s temperature level. Without the water cycle, the Earth would either become extremely cold or extremely hot.
100. The water cycle consists of five parts which are evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, and surface run-off.
101. Water has three different forms in the water cycle, liquid (water), gas (steam), and solid (ice).
102. What we pour on the ground is likely to end up in our water.
103. A water molecule spends 98% of the time in the ocean, 1.7% as ice, and the rest in the lakes, rivers, and atmosphere.
104. A 350-foot-tall redwood tree can move around 500 gallons of water per day from the ground to the atmosphere through transpiration.
105. The water cycle gets its driving energy from the sun.
106. The chemicals we use will affect the water cycle significantly as the water cycle is an unending loop.
107. In the United States, leaky faucets, malfunctioning toilets, and errant sprinkler systems are the leading factors of wasting water.
108. Plants contribute to the water cycle via the transpiration process.
109. Precipitation occurs in several forms, which are rain, hail, snow, and sleet.
110. Under certain conditions, water can change from the solid-state (ice) into the gas state (vapor) without going through the liquid state. The process is called sublimation.
111. A small thunderstorm can generate about 2,000 tons of rainwater in 30 minutes, enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
112. The water you drink will eventually leave your body as sweat or urine, evaporate, and return to the water cycle.

Water Nutrition Facts

113. Water is essential to the human body to maintain fluid balances and homeostasis.
114. The human body cannot create water, so humans need to drink water.
115. When the human body lacks water, many critical biological functions will start to fail and eventually death.
116. 50 to 60 percent of human weight is water.
117. Aside from drinking water, humans can also get water from food.
118. Daily fluid intake is the total amount of water consumed daily, including plain water, food, and beverages.
119. Tap water contains no calories, fats, carbohydrates, protein, and organic nutrients.
120. Tap water has 9 mg of sodium, 7 mg of calcium, 2 mg of magnesium, and 0.02 mg of zinc per cup.
121. Natural sparkling mineral water has 60 mg of calcium and 17 mg of magnesium per cup.
122. Bottled water has 24 mg of calcium, 5 mg of magnesium, and 5 mg of sodium per cup.
123. Evian water has 19 mg of calcium and 5 mg of magnesium per cup.
124. Perrier water gas 33 mg of calcium and 2 mg of sodium per cup.
125. The average adult male needs to drink about 130 ounces of water each day.
126. The average adult female needs to drink about 91 ounces of water each day.

Shocking Facts about Water

127. There are about 200 children die from unsafe water every hour.
128. 80% of all illness in developing countries is water-related.
129. In developing countries, up to 50% of water is lost due to leaks.
130. In some countries, only less than 50% of the population has access to clean water.
131. Hot water can sometimes freeze quicker than cold water under certain conditions, as per the Mpemba effect. However, it is a controversial theory with no solid evidence and meaningful observations to support it.
132. A swimming pool evaporates about 1,000 gallons of water per month.
133. An acre of corn evaporates 4,000 gallons of water per day.
134. It takes more than 42,000 gallons of water to grow and prepare foods for a typical Thanksgiving dinner for eight.
135. Washington is the second most glaciated state in the United States, and its glaciers provide 470 billion gallons of water every summer.
136. Excessive water intake may cause water intoxication (also known as water poisoning or overhydration) and is fatal.
137. 10% of households have leak issues that waste over 90 gallons of water daily.
138. In the United States, there is a water main break every 2 minutes due to aging water infrastructure, and 6 billion gallons of treated water is lost every day due to leaking pipes.
139. A faucet that drips at one drip per second may waste over 3,000 gallons in a year.
140. According to the National Geographic Society in the United States, groundwater reserves are estimated to be more than 33,000 trillion gallons.
141. Groundwater is 20 to 30 times more than all the streams, lakes, and rivers in the United States combined.
142. In the United States, 27 trillion gallons of groundwater are withdrawn for use every year.
143. The High Plains aquifer (also known as the Ogallala aquifer) covers eight states and 175,000 square miles.
144. The sun evaporates a trillion tons of water every day.
145. Over two billion people do not have access to a safe water supply.
146. Each day, an estimated 1,800 children below the age of five die due to illnesses caused by unclean water.
147. On average, women in developing countries walk 3.7 miles daily to collect water.
148. In Africa, women spend 40 billion hours annually walking to collect water.
149. Bottled water is up to 2,000 times more expensive than tap water.
150. One gallon of gasoline can contaminate 750,000 gallons of water.
151. Insufficient water consumption is a risk factor for getting certain types of cancer.
152. It takes 3.3 acre-feet (1.075 million gallons) of water to grow enough food for an average family for a year.
153. Water costs 10 to 20 times more in poorer countries than in rich countries.
154. Globally, 1.7 million people die from diarrhea caused by unsafe water each year.

Facts about Water Scarcity

155. About 700 million people in 43 countries suffer from water scarcity.
156. 1.8 billion people will be living in regions or countries with water scarcity by 2025.
157. Two-thirds of the world’s population is projected to face water stress by 2025.
158. Half of the world’s population will live in countries with high water stress by 2025.
159. More than 400 million people live in regions with severe water shortages.
160. Over 780 million people lack access to an improved water source, which is about 10% of the world’s population.

Facts about Water’s Properties

161. Pure water has a pH level of 7 (neutral), no smell, and no taste.
162. Pure water does not conduct electricity. However, water becomes a conductor when it dissolves other substances around it.
163. Water has three forms which are liquid, solid, and gas.
164. The water form changes due to the movement of the water molecules. In solid form (ice), the water molecules are closer to each other, whereas, in gas form (steam), they are further from each other.
165. Whenever the water changes its form, it is either due to the absorption or release of energy.
166. Water boils at 212F and freezes at 32F. The boiling point of water is lower at lower air pressure.
167. The water molecule is adhesive and tends to stick to molecules of other substances.
168. Water has a high surface tension, making it elastic and sticky.
169. Water has a high heat index, making it an excellent coolant for industry applications and automotive. The high heat index also helps to slow down the rate of air temperature changes.

Facts about Water Filtration

170. A point-of-use water filtration system like Reverse Osmosis costs only pennies per gallon of filtered drinking water.
171. The Safe Drinking Water Act regulates only 91 contaminants out of 60,000 chemicals used in the United States.
172. EPA sets the standard for drinking water through the regulation of over 90 contaminants.
173. Ultraviolet light is a chemical-free method that destroys 99.99% of harmful microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, cysts) in water.
174. Reverse Osmosis is one of the strongest filtration technologies to remove a wide range of contaminants from water, including dissolved solids, fluoride, lead, arsenic, heavy metals, and bacteria.

American Water Usage Statistics

175. Households in the United States use an average of 50 gallons of water daily per person.
176. The average cost of water supply in the United States is about $6 for 1,000 gallons.
177. The United States uses about 400 billion gallons of water per day.
178. American residents use an average of more than 100,000 gallons of water annually indoors and outdoors.
179. 41% of the water used in the United States is for thermoelectric power generation.
180. The United States draws over 40 billion gallons of water from the Great Lakes daily.
181. Americans drink over a billion glasses of tap water daily.
182. Americans use 5.7 billion gallons of water daily for toilet flushes.
183. In the United States, 1 out of 6 gallons of water leak from pipes before reaching customers.
184. If all people in the US flushed the toilet one fewer times per day, it could save about 834 million water daily.
185. Household leaks can waste over 1 trillion gallons of water per year nationwide, enough to supply over 11 million households for a year.
186. Americans spend less than 1% of their total expenditure on water, water disposal, and wastewater services.
187. In the United States, drinking water is delivered through 2.2 million miles of pipes.
188. In the United States, $150 billion funding is needed for water infrastructure to keep up with the growing water demand.
189. In the United States, 86% of the population uses water from the public water supply.
190. Only less than 1% of the treated water is used for drinking and cooking.
191. About 60% of the water supplies in Texas are groundwater, and the rest 40% is surface water. In North Texas, more than 90% of water supplies are surface water.
192. Texas has about 6,700 dams and reservoirs.
193. Americans use five times the amount of water that Europeans use.

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