Water is a unique and fascinating substance! Both scientists and civilians are aware that life cannot continue without liquid water. People are able to live weeks without food but merely days without water. Recent moon explosions were planned for the purpose of, hopefully, detecting the presence of water through analyzing the dust, for moon colonization is virtually impossible without it.
The earth is not short of water as such. The 326 million trillion gallons of water on earth divided by the current population, 5.8 billion, reveals that we have 56 billion gallons apiece. For sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, the average person in the world has a daily requirement of about 13.2 gallons of water. That means the world contains enough water to last each of us over 11 million years (not counting population growth)! And that doesn't take into account the water cycle, our free recycling program.
Of course, the problem is that not all (or even most) of this water is useable in its present form. Ninety-eight percent of the water on the planet is in the oceans, and is, therefore, unusable for drinking because of the salt. Of the 2% of the planet's fresh water, 1.6% is unusable in the polar ice caps and glaciers. Most of the rest (0.36%) is out of reach in aquifers and wells. Only about.036% of the planet's total water supply is found in lakes and rivers. That's still thousands of trillions of gallons, (in fact, 392 million gallons each) but it's a very small amount compared to all the water available. The sobering fact is that only about 0.007% of all water on earth (and less than 1% of the world's fresh water) is accessible for direct human use.
To exacerbate the problem, this fresh water is not evenly available to the population. For example, the average American uses more water in one shower than most third world people use in a whole day. Nearly one billion people lack access to safe water. More precisely 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people. Further, two and a half billion do not have improved sanitation, that is, a means to separate drinking water from waste water.
Major health issues throughout the world result from a lack of sanitary drinking water. As many as half of all people in hospital beds at any given time are there because of a water related disease. On average a child dies from a water-related disease every 15-20 seconds in the world, and the usual cause is diarrhea. That totals a staggering 1.4 million children each year. Children of the poor often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies continually. Think of it: 88% of the cases of diarrhea worldwide are caused by unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, or insufficient hygiene.
Poor water results not only in deaths, but also in more crime, more disease, increase in birth defects, and decreased ability to do well in school, among other things. In short, it results in general economic decline. An investment in pure water for a people, or in desalination of the sea, is an investment with big returns. Some have estimated that every US dollar invested in providing adequate water supplies returns a benefit to them of eight US dollars.
Some would have us in the west feel guilty for taking a shower or watering our lawns. This is faulty thinking. Lowering our living standard in use of water only borrows their problems. America has sufficient good, clean water because we have learned how to preserve it and where to get it. Our response to criticism should not be guilt but better stewardship and an increased willingness to share our knowledge with others. When we are frugal and generous with our water, we will set a higher standard for other nations to follow.
The earth is not short of water as such. The 326 million trillion gallons of water on earth divided by the current population, 5.8 billion, reveals that we have 56 billion gallons apiece. For sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, the average person in the world has a daily requirement of about 13.2 gallons of water. That means the world contains enough water to last each of us over 11 million years (not counting population growth)! And that doesn't take into account the water cycle, our free recycling program.
Of course, the problem is that not all (or even most) of this water is useable in its present form. Ninety-eight percent of the water on the planet is in the oceans, and is, therefore, unusable for drinking because of the salt. Of the 2% of the planet's fresh water, 1.6% is unusable in the polar ice caps and glaciers. Most of the rest (0.36%) is out of reach in aquifers and wells. Only about.036% of the planet's total water supply is found in lakes and rivers. That's still thousands of trillions of gallons, (in fact, 392 million gallons each) but it's a very small amount compared to all the water available. The sobering fact is that only about 0.007% of all water on earth (and less than 1% of the world's fresh water) is accessible for direct human use.
To exacerbate the problem, this fresh water is not evenly available to the population. For example, the average American uses more water in one shower than most third world people use in a whole day. Nearly one billion people lack access to safe water. More precisely 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people. Further, two and a half billion do not have improved sanitation, that is, a means to separate drinking water from waste water.
Major health issues throughout the world result from a lack of sanitary drinking water. As many as half of all people in hospital beds at any given time are there because of a water related disease. On average a child dies from a water-related disease every 15-20 seconds in the world, and the usual cause is diarrhea. That totals a staggering 1.4 million children each year. Children of the poor often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies continually. Think of it: 88% of the cases of diarrhea worldwide are caused by unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, or insufficient hygiene.
Poor water results not only in deaths, but also in more crime, more disease, increase in birth defects, and decreased ability to do well in school, among other things. In short, it results in general economic decline. An investment in pure water for a people, or in desalination of the sea, is an investment with big returns. Some have estimated that every US dollar invested in providing adequate water supplies returns a benefit to them of eight US dollars.
Some would have us in the west feel guilty for taking a shower or watering our lawns. This is faulty thinking. Lowering our living standard in use of water only borrows their problems. America has sufficient good, clean water because we have learned how to preserve it and where to get it. Our response to criticism should not be guilt but better stewardship and an increased willingness to share our knowledge with others. When we are frugal and generous with our water, we will set a higher standard for other nations to follow.
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