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The most common
substance found on earth is water. Water is the
only substance found naturally in three forms:
solid, liquid, and gas.
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The amount of
water is constant and recycled throughout time;
actually, it is possible to drink water that was
part of the dinosaur era.
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Eighty percent of
the earth's surface is water.
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Ninety-seven
percent of the earth's water is saltwater in
oceans and seas. Of the 3% that is freshwater,
only 1% is available for drinking - the
remaining 2% is frozen in the polar ice caps.
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Water serves as
nature's thermometer, helping to regulate the
earth's temperature.
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Water freezes at
32 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees Celsius.
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Water boils at
212 degrees Fahrenheit, 100 degrees Celsius.
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Once evaporated,
a water molecule spends ten days in the air.
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Forty trillion
gallons of water a day are carried in the
atmosphere across the United States.
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An acre of corn
gives off 4,000 gallons of water per day in
evaporation.
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Forty percent of
the atmosphere's moisture falls as precipitation
each day.
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It would take 1.1
trillion gallons of water to cover one square
mile with one foot of water.
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One gallon of
water weighs 8.34 pounds; one cubic foot
contains 7.84 gallons of water.
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People need about
2.5 quarts of water a day (from drinking or
eating) to maintain good health. A person can
live without water for approximately one week,
depending upon the conditions.
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While usage
varies from community to community and person to
person, on average, Americans use 183 gallons of
water a day for cooking, washing, flushing, and
watering purposes. The average family turns on
the tap between 70 and 100 times daily.
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About 74% of home
water usage is in the bathroom, about 21% is for
laundry and cleaning, and about 5% is in the
kitchen.
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A clothes washer
uses about 50 gallons of water (the permanent
press cycle uses an additional 15 gallons).
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It takes 12 to 20
gallons of water to run an automatic dishwasher
for one cycle.
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About 2 gallons
of water go down the drain when the kitchen
faucet is run until the water's cold.
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About 2 gallons
of water are used to brush our teeth.
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Flushing a toilet
requires 2 to 7 gallons of water.
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A 10 minute
shower can take 25 - 50 gallons of water. High
flow shower heads spew water out at 6 - 10
gallons a minute. Low flow shower heads can cut
the rate in half without reducing pressure.
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About 25 - 50
gallons are needed for a tub bath.
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A typical garden
hose can deliver 50 gallons of water in just 5
minutes.
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It takes about
four times the amount of water to produce food
and fiber than all other uses of water combined.
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About 4,000
gallons of water are needed to grow one bushel
of corn, 11,000 gallons to grow one bushel of
wheat, and about 135,000 gallons to grow one ton
of alfalfa.
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It takes about
1,000 gallons of water to grow the wheat to make
a two pound loaf of bread, and about 120 gallons
to produce one egg.
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About 1,400
gallons of water are used to produce a meal of a
quarter-pound hamburger, an order of fries and a
soft drink.
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About 48,000
gallons are needed to produce the typical
American Thanksgiving dinner for eight people.
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About 1,800
gallons of water are needed to produce the
cotton in a pair jeans, and 400 gallons to
produce the cotton in a shirt.
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It takes 39,000
gallons of water to produce the average domestic
auto, including tires.
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Producing an
average-size Sunday newspaper requires about 150
gallons of water.
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Water makes up
almost two-thirds of the human body, and seventy
percent of the brain.
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Four hundred
gallons of water are recycled through our
kidneys each day.
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Water makes up
80% of an earthworm, 70% of a chicken, and 70%
of an elephant.
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Water makes up
90% of a tomato, 80% of pineapples and corn, and
70% of a tree.
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About 60,000
public water systems across the United States
process 34 billion gallons of water per day for
home and commercial use. Eighty-five percent of
the population is served by these facilities.
The remaining 15 percent rely on 13 million
private.
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It can take up to
45 minutes for a water supplier to produce one
glass of drinking water.
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You can refill an
8 oz. glass of water approximately 15,000 times
for the same cost as a six pack of soda pop.
And, water has no sugar or caffeine.
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An average of
800,000 water wells are drilled each year in the
United States. That's tapping into our
underground water supplies at approximately 100
times each hour for domestic, farming, and
commercial needs.
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The United States
and Canada have about one million miles of
pipelines and aqueducts - enough to circle the
planet 40 times.