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Water Facts

Water Facts
Water is a clear liquid that is found on earth, and is the most important natural resource on the planet because all forms of life rely on it in some form for survival, either directly or indirectly. Water is made up oxygen and hydrogen elements and its chemical name is H2O. Water can be found in liquid form, or when it is in its frozen state it is called ice. When in its gas state water is called either water vapour or steam. Approximately 70% of the surface of the earth is covered in water. Earth is not the only planet to have water. Scientists have discovered that water is found on Mars in its solid form - as polar ice caps.
Interesting Water Facts:
People can survive for approximately a month without food, but without water they can only survive for about a week.
Each person requires approximately 12 gallons of water each day when all water is taken into account. This includes water for drinking, toilet flushing, showers, and the production of the food one consumes.
Each day in the United States approximately 5.7 billion gallons are flushed down the toilet.
Buying a $0.99 bottle of drinking water costs the same as if you filled that bottle 1,740 times from your tap at home.
Approximately 40% of the freshwater used in the United States is for agricultural requirements necessary to grow food. In China this equals 65% of total water freshwater use.
People in the United States drink approximately 1 billion glasses of water each day (from taps).
Approximately 40 billion gallons of water are withdrawn from the Great Lakes by the United States each day. More than 50% of the water is used to create electricity.
It is estimated that more than 35 states in the U.S. will be experiencing water shortages by 2016.
Because of the decreasing availability of clean water, it is estimated that by 2025 more than 50% of the population worldwide will be experiencing serious water shortages.
Under the right conditions hot water can be frozen more quickly than cold water. This is referred to as the Mpemba effect.
The human body is made up of approximately 66% water.
If a leaky faucet drips on drop per second, this equals 3000 gallons of water wasted each year.
It is estimated that the earth contains 326 trillion gallons of water.
While water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level, it must reach only 68 degrees Celsius to boil at the top of Mount Everest.
In order to create one pound of chocolate 3170 gallons of water are required for the entire process.
It takes 1321 gallons of water to create 500 sheets of paper.
In order to grow the food and prepare it for an average Thanksgiving dinner, more than 42,000 gallons are required.
More than 85 billion gallons of water could be saved each year if everyone in the United States alone took shorter showers, decreasing water consumption by only 1 gallon for each shower.


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