Chapter 1: The Vital Role of Water

Water is Earth's most plentiful resource and essential for life. Here are some intriguing facts to ponder as you enjoy your next drink.

68.7% of the planet's freshwater is locked in glaciers, with nearly 10% of the Earth's land area covered by these icy formations, predominantly found in Greenland and Antarctica. Remarkably, Antarctica contains 90% of the planet's ice mass. These glaciers are massive, frozen rivers of ice, and if they were to melt completely, global sea levels would rise by approximately 230 feet. During the last ice age, sea levels were around 400 feet lower than they are today, as glaciers enveloped nearly a third of the Earth's surface. (1)

Water's unique properties allow it to dissolve more substances than any other liquid, which is why it is often referred to as the "universal solvent." This characteristic is crucial because as water travels, it carries essential minerals, nutrients, and chemicals. The molecular structure of water, consisting of two hydrogen atoms with a positive charge and one oxygen atom with a negative charge, enables it to attract various molecules and substances. (2)

Approximately 66% of the human body is composed of water. The brain and heart each consist of about 73% water, while skin contains 64%, lungs around 83%, and kidneys about 79%. Even bones are made up of 31% water. (3)

Americans consume over a billion glasses of tap water daily. For those who prefer bottled water, the average price is $1.22 per gallon, which is 300 times more expensive than tap water. However, if you refill a half-liter water bottle from the tap 1,740 times, it equals the cost of a single 99-cent bottled water. (4)(5)

Toilets in the U.S. use a staggering 5.7 billion gallons of water daily. Researchers recorded 289,000 toilet flushes across 12 cities and found that the average American flushes five times a day, using about 18.5 gallons of water. (6)

Washing dishes by hand is less efficient than using a water-conserving dishwasher, which can use as little as four gallons compared to the twenty gallons needed for hand washing. (7)

Despite popular belief, there is no scientific backing for the suggestion to drink eight glasses of water daily. This myth may have originated from a 1945 recommendation by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, which indicated that an individual should consume "1 milliliter of water for each calorie of food." This translates to about 2 to 2.5 quarts daily, or roughly eight glasses, but it was also noted that most of this water comes from food. No studies have validated this claim, as water can be found in various other sources. (8)

Excessive water intake can lead to a potentially fatal condition known as water intoxication, which disrupts electrolyte balance and drastically lowers sodium levels in the body. One documented case involved a 64-year-old woman who consumed 30 to 40 glasses of water daily, leading to vomiting, hysteria, and ultimately, her death. The postmortem determined hyponatremia as the cause, a condition where sodium levels in the blood drop too low, prompting water to move into brain cells and resulting in neurological issues such as dizziness and confusion. (9)

The Earth contains an estimated 332 million trillion gallons of water, which is in a perpetual cycle of evaporation from the oceans, precipitation, and return to the seas. Oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface, with 96% of the planet's water being saline. (10)

NASA has identified ice on the moon, with the LCROSS probe revealing about twenty-four gallons of water in a crater after impacting the lunar south pole in 2009. Scientists had long suspected the presence of water due to the moon's permanently shadowed craters that could maintain frozen water on the surface. This discovery was officially confirmed in 2019 at both the lunar north and south poles. (11)(12)

Water found in the Timmins Mine in Ontario, Canada, dated between 1.1 and 2.6 billion years old, was collected from 1.5 miles underground. One scientist even tasted it, describing the water as "salty and bitter — much saltier than seawater." (13)(14)

According to the National Geographic Society, hydrologists estimate that the groundwater reserves in the U.S. are around 33 trillion gallons, equivalent to the volume discharged into the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi River over the past two centuries. Additionally, roughly a quarter of all rainfall in the U.S. replenishes groundwater. (15)

The Great Artesian Basin in Australia is the largest aquifer globally, spanning over 661,000 square miles. In the U.S., the Ogallala or High Plains Aquifer is among the largest, covering eight states (South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas) and encompassing approximately 174,000 square miles. Groundwater in the U.S. is 20 to 30 times greater than all the water found in lakes, streams, and rivers combined, with about 27 trillion gallons extracted annually for use. (16)(17)

When a quarter-acre of land (approximately the size of a typical suburban lot) receives half an inch of rain, it results in 3,394 gallons of water falling on that area, equivalent to 85 baths of 40 gallons each. If the same amount of rain fell on Houston, which spans 627 square miles, it would yield 5.4 billion gallons, enough for 136 million 40-gallon baths. (18)

A single thunderstorm cloud can contain around 275 million gallons of water. It would take Niagara Falls, which flows 750,000 gallons per second, six minutes to match the volume in a single thunderstorm cloud. Given that a gallon of water weighs approximately 8.34 pounds, the total weight of a thunderstorm cloud is around 1.1 million tons or 2.3 billion pounds. (19)

Chapter 2: Fascinating Water Facts

To further explore the significance and wonders of water, check out these informative videos.

The first video, "10 Facts About Water," delves into amazing insights about this precious resource, shedding light on its importance and unique properties.

The second video, "Water Facts! Learn fun facts about the thing you drink every day!" offers fun and engaging information about water that you might not know.

Sources:

1. USGS
2. USGS
3. USGS
4. EPA
5. Slate
6. The Week
7. Green Building Advisor
8. Psych Central
9. NCBI
10. USGS
11. Space.com
12. Space.com
13. National Geographic
14. CNN
15. NGWA
16. National Geographic
17. Wikipedia
18. USGS
19. USA Today

Interested in learning more? Check out "The Wonderful World of Completely Random Facts" series here on Medium.