| The water facts in this list are interesting, and some of them are fun. But it's important to always remember just how precious water is, and that we need to do everything we can to conserve and protect our water resources. We are very lucky in the United States to have such an abundance of good water, especially when you consider that a quarter of the world's population is without safe drinking water.
80 percent of the earth's surface is water. The total amount of water on the earth is about 326 million cubic miles of water. 97 percent of the earth's water is seawater. 2 percent of the earth's water supply is locked in icecaps and glaciers. Only 1 percent of the earth's water is available for drinking. Of all the water on the earth, humans can use only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes. If all the world's water were fit into a gallon jug, the fresh water available for us to use would equal only about one tablespoon. The worlds largest (surface area) freshwater lake is Lake Superior (North America) with an area of 32,000 sq. miles (82,103 sq. km). The deepest and oldest lake in the world is Lake Baikal (Siberia) at 6,365 ft. (1,940 m) deep and 25 million years old. Lake Baikal holds one-fifth of the earth's available fresh water. Water is the only substance found on earth in three forms: solid, liquid, and gas. The Earth is a "closed system". This means that there is the same amount of water on earth now as there was when the earth was formed. Just think, you could be drinking the same water molecules that a dinosaur drank! Water regulates the earth's temperature. Water also regulates your body's temperature. Frozen water is 9% lighter than water, which is why ice floats on water. Water removes waste from the human body. Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. The average person in the United States uses 80 to 100 gallons of water each day. Flushing the toilet actually takes up the largest amount of this water. During medieval times a person used only 5 gallons per day. Of course they didn't have flush toilets. Americans use five times the amount of water that Europeans use. The average five-minute shower takes between 15 to 25 gallons of water. A dairy cow must drink four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk. A chicken holds more water for its size than an elephant. 75% of a chicken is water. 70% of an elephant is water. A watermelon holds less water for its size than a tomato. 92% of a watermelon is water. 95% of a tomato is water. Fresh, uncompacted snow is usually 90-95 percent trapped air. A human can live more than a month without food but only as much as one week without water. The recommended amount of water is eight cups per day, from all sources. Nearly every food or drink item provides some water to the body.
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