7+4 interesting facts about life-giving water

22 March is the World Water Day. The day of water, which we are taking less and less care of, even though it is one of the most precious resources on the planet. This is exactly what World Water Day, which has been celebrated since 1993, is all about and draws attention to, raising awareness not only of the threats to freshwater resources, but also of the importance of drinking water. On this occasion, we have collected 6 longer and 4 shorter facts about water that can help us to be more mindful of our water consumption for the sake of our planet.

There are few things that are true for all living things on the Blue Planet, but the fact that we all need water to survive is just that. The creatures hiding deep in the desert’s sandhills die without water, as do the organisms that populate the mountain tops. That’s why when astrobiologists look for signs of life on other planets, they are really always looking for water, because where there is water, life can make its way. As a parenthetical, but not at all rhetorical question, what if there are creatures in the universe that have a different biology from ours and need not water but something else entirely to survive?

How much water is there on Earth, and especially where? The surprising fact is that 96.5 per cent of our water is in the oceans, which occupy 71 per cent of the planet’s surface. Interestingly, a further 0.001 per cent of water is found in the atmosphere: if it all fell as precipitation at once, the planet would get just over 2.5 centimetres of rainfall at a constant rate.

No no, it’s not about ice cream, it’s about the fact that only 3.5 percent of the Earth’s total water supply is freshwater, with only a small fraction of that stored in rivers, lakes and streams. Ice sheets and glaciers “contain” 68% of freshwater, with groundwater making up the remaining 30%.

On average, 1 gallon (= 3.7 litres) of sea/ocean water contains 1 cup (= about 270 grams) of salt. But not all our salty waters are equally salty: the Atlantic is saltier than the Pacific, for example. Surprisingly, the saltiest water in the world is not the Dead Sea, but a stagnant body of water in Antarctica. The Don Juan Lake, which was only a foot deep 30 years ago, has got smaller and smaller over the years and is now almost completely dry.

Incredibly, a single drop of seawater contains millions of bacteria and viruses. They don’t get bored, of course, with countless fish eggs, plankton and other tiny creatures swimming around.

In solids, atoms are located closer together. This is why most solid objects sink in water. The frozen water molecules, on the other hand, have a ring shape, which makes the ice less dense. This is why the ice floats freely on the surface. And why is this great news? Because it allows the rest of the water around it to remain liquid. If the ice sank, the oceans and seas would freeze.

Of course, not literally. However, the fact is that a significant part of the human body is water. The body of newborn babies is 78 percent water, but as more and more candles are added to our birthday cake, this number is decreasing, to around 55-60 percent for healthy adults. It’s no coincidence that nature has designed it this way, as the water in our bodies is crucial for our survival: it helps regulate our body’s thermoregulation, helps transport nutrients, is essential for optimal brain function and helps to properly excrete waste products. And while adequate fluid intake is a problem for many people, the above might make it a little easier to drink a few more glasses of water.

The raindrops are hurtling towards the ground at an average speed of 11 kilometres per hour.

To make one litre of wine, you need nearly 5 litres of water.

There are around two billion people in the world who do not have access to sufficient quantities and quality of drinking water.