Interesting Water Facts


  • Water that is safe to drink is called potable (pronounced po-ta-bal).
  • It costs over $3.5 billion to operate water systems throughout the United States each year.
  • Groundwater is water that sinks into the upper portion of the earth's surface.
  • One ear of corn is 80% water.
  • It takes 39,090 gallons of water to manufacture a new car and it's four tires.
  • Each year, nearly 10,000 cubic miles of water flows along the world's rivers to the oceans.
  • Public water suppliers in the US process nearly 34 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.
  • On average, 50% - 70% of household water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens.
  • Americans drink more than 1 billion glasses of tap water per day.
  • There is the same amount of water on Earth as there was when the Earth was formed. The water from your faucet could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank.
  • Water is composed of two elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen.
         2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen = H2O.
  • Nearly 97% of the world's water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves just 1% for all humanity's needs - all its agricultural, residential, manufacturing community, and personal needs.
  • Water regulates the Earth's temperature. It also regulates the temperature of the human body, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, cushions joints, protects organs and tissues, and removes wastes.
  • 75% of the human brain is water and 75% of a living tree is water.
  • A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
  • Water is part of a deeply interconnected system. What we pour on the ground ends up in our water, and what we spew into the sky ends up in our water.
  • The average total home water use for each person in the U.S. is about 50 gallons a day.
  • Water expands by 9 percent when it freezes. Frozen water (ice) is lighter than water, which is why ice floats in water.