25 Interesting Facts About Water

Water is our most precious resource, supporting all life on Earth. In celebration of Drilcorp’s 25^th Anniversary, we have compiled a list of 25 surprising and interesting facts about the miraculous chemical compound known as H₂0. For example, did you know one acre of broad-leafed forest has the ability to release up to 8,000 gallons of water into the atmosphere every day. Incredible!

1. • Water is the most important resource in the world.
   • 7% of the fresh water on Earth is trapped in glaciers.
   • Water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid including sulfuric acid.
   • The freezing point of water lowers as the amount of salt dissolved in at increases. With average levels of salt, seawater freezes at -2 °C (28.4 °F).
   • To create one pint of beer it takes 20 gallons of water.
   • 80% of all illness in the developing world is water related.
   • Unsafe water fatally harms almost 200 young people every hour.
   • Collectively, South African women and children walk a daily distance equivalent to 16 trips to the moon and back to fetch water.
   • A jellyfish and a cucumber are each 95% water.
   • 70% of the human brain is water.

• A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
• 300 tons of water are required to manufacture 1 ton of steel.
• Hot water can freeze faster than cold water under some conditions (commonly known as the Mpemba effect).
• If the entire world’s water were fit into a 4 litre jug, the fresh water available for us would equal only about one tablespoon.
• Over 90% of the world’s supply of fresh water is located in Antarctica.
• Water regulates the Earth’s temperature.
• In a 100-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 makes up about 66 percent of the human body.
• Drinking too much water can be fatal (known as water intoxication).
• There is more fresh water in the atmosphere than in all of the rivers on the planet combined.
• A leaky tap that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year.
• The first water pipes in the U.S. were made from hollowed logs.
• NASA has discovered water in the form of ice on the moon.
• A bath uses up to 70 gallons of water; a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.
• Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun acting on ocean water.

BONUS FACT: Did you know domestic water wells have been used for centuries as a source of clean, drinkable water? Of course, back then they didn’t have the modernised drilling equipment available today, so these wells were usually dug by hand.

 

Enjoyed our 25 facts about water? Why not explore the Water Manifesto and see how the UK government plans to provide water to the public between 2020 to 2025.