Water

March 31, 2023

Canadian writer and journalist Marq de Villiers¹ has described the Earth's hydrosphere as a closed system in which water exists.  The hydrosphere is intricate, complex, interdependent, all-pervading and stable and "seems purpose-built for regulating life".

De Villiers claims that "On earth, the total amount of water has almost certainly not changed since geological times: what we had then we still have. Water can be polluted, abused, and wasted but it is neither created nor destroyed in nature, it only migrates."  There is no scientific evidence whatsoever to show that water vapor can escape into space.

I find this very interesting and thought provoking.  Next time someone tells you that the Earth is running out of water, please direct them to this narrative. 

1. Most of the earth's surface consists of water; there is much more water than there is land.

2. Water can not only be found on the surface, but also in the ground and in the air.

3. There is the same amount of water on earth as there was when the earth was formed. The water that came from your faucet this morning could contain water molecules that Neanderthals drank…

4. There are two kinds of water; salt water and freshwater. Salt water contains great amounts of salt, whereas freshwater has a dissolved salt concentration of less than 1%. Only freshwater can be applied as drinking water.

5. Water consists of three atoms, two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom, that are bound together by an electrical charge.

6. Water moves around the earth in a cycle. The water cycle has five parts: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration and surface run-off.

7. In a 100-year period, a water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about two weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere.

8. Groundwater can take a human lifetime to traverse one mile.

9. Most of the earth's surface water is permanently frozen or salty.

10. Water regulates the earth's temperature.

11. Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.

12. Water evaporates at a hundred degrees Celsius.

13. Water is the only substance that is found naturally on earth in three forms: liquid, gas, solid.

14. Frozen water is 9% lighter than water, which is why ice floats on water.

15. A litre of water weighs 1.01 kilograms.

16. It doesn't take much salt to make water 'salty'.  If one-thousandth (or more) of the weight of water is from salt, then the water is 'saline'.

17. Saline water can be desalinated for use as drinking water by going through a process to remove the salt from the water.

18. As oceans are very wide and there are multiple to be found on earth, oceans store most of the earth's water. This is approximately 97% of the total amount of water on earth, 2% of which is frozen.

19. 80% of the earth's water is surface water. The other 20% is either ground water or atmospheric water vapour.

20. Of all the water on earth, only 2.5% is fresh water. Fresh water is either groundwater (0.5%), or readily accessible water in lakes, streams, rivers, etc. (0.01%).

21. 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.

22. Over 90% of the world's supply of fresh water is located in Antarctica.

23. Less than 1% of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water.

24. The earth's total amount of water has a volume of about 344 million cubic miles!

     · 315 million cubic miles is seawater.

     · 9 million cubic miles is groundwater in aquifers.

     · 7 million cubic miles is frozen in polar ice caps.

     · 53,000 cubic miles of water pass through the planet's lakes and streams.

     · 4,000 cubic miles of water is atmospheric moisture.

     · 3,400 cubic miles of water is locked within the bodies of living things.

25. Approximately 66% of the human body consists of water. Water exists within all our organs and it is transported throughout our body to assist physical functions.

26. The total amount of water in the body of an average adult is 37 litres.

27. Human brains are 75% water.

28. Human bones are 25% water.

29. Human blood is 83% water.

30. 75% of a chicken is water.

31. 80% of a pineapple is water.

32. 95% of a tomato is water.

33. 70% of an elephant is water.

34. Each day the sun evaporates a trillion tons of water.

35. A single tree will give off 265 liters (70 gallons) of water per day in evaporation.

36. An acre of corn will give off 15,000 litres (4,000 gallons) of water per day in evaporation.

37. A small drip from a faucet can waste as much as 75 litres of water a day.

38. The amount of water we deliver on a hot summer day, 308 million litres (80 million gallons), could fill 1.28 billion cups of coffee.

39. To process one can of fruit or vegetables we need 35 litres (9.3 gallons) of water.

40. To process one chicken we need 44 litres (11.6 gallons) of water.

41. It takes 450 litres (120 gallons) of water to produce one egg.

42. It takes 5,680 litres (1,500 gallons) of water to process one barrel of beer.

43. It takes 7,000 litres (1,850 gallons) of water to refine one barrel of crude oil.

44. About 25,700 litres (6,800 gallons) of water is required to grow a day's food for a family of four.

45. The processes used to manufacture one new car uses 148,000 litres (39,000 gallons) of water!

¹Marq de Villiers

I welcome any comments as long as they are respectful.  I can handle criticism and opposing viewpoints, in fact I encourage them.  Join the discussion on any of my web pages.  Polite, courteous, or neutral comments will be published for everyone else to see.  Comments that are deemed rude, inappropriate, vulgar, hurtful, racist, misogynistic, violent, or sexual (among others) will not be published.  Remember, we can all agree to disagree and still be respectful!