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Water is a resource
that we take for granted for most of our lives.
But how long could we survive without it? We
all know how frustrating it is when we turn on a
tap or the shower and the pressure is low, or worse,
nothing comes out!
Sometimes, when
we are fed up with trying to conserve something
that seems to come so easily with little effort,
it is good to take stock and just think for a second
how important water really is. Have a look at the
data below, I think some of it may surprise you…
- Only 2.5% of the Earth’s
water is fresh. Of that only 0.6% is available
for use – only 0.3% is renewable
- 1 in 6 people worldwide
do not have safe drinking water
- Half the world’s
population suffers water services inferior to
those of the ancient Greeks and Romans
If you are 20
years old, the world population when you were born
was 4.27 billion, if you are 50, it was 2.48 billion and
in 1999 it hit 6 billion. The water resource
is significantly less now than it was when you were
born, and the trend continues..
- Water is the only substance
found naturally in 3 forms: liquid, solid and
gas
- Eight per cent of the
Earth’s surface is water
- Once evaporated, a water
molecule spends 10 days in the air
- An acre of corn evaporates
4000 gallons of water per day in the summer
- The average Christmas
dinner for 8 people requires about 48,000 gallons
of water
- Water makes up two thirds
of the human body and 70% of the brain
- The
US and Canada have one million miles of pipeline
and aqueduct – enough to circle the planet
40 times
“When the
well’s dry, we know the value of water”
Benjamin Franklin 1706
– 1790
“Filthy
water cannot be washed”
African Proverb
“Life originated
in the sea, and 80% of it is still there”
Isaac Asimov 1988
“Wetlands
have a poor public image…Yet they are among
the Earth’s greatest natural assets….mankind’s
waterlogged wealth”
- Every year, there are
250 million cases of water related disease, resulting
in 5-10 million deaths
- Agricultural
irrigation systems worldwide consume 70% of diverted
water, and lose almost 80% through leakage and
inefficient application to crops
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