Water by the Numbers -- H20
We all learned about the science of water in grade school, but I thought a review of this amazing substance was in order as we explore water by the numbers.
H2O
- 1 molecule of water is made up of 1 atom of oxygen and 2 atoms of hydrogen.
- The hydrogen atoms bond to oxygen by sharing negatively charged electrons.
- Water is the only substance to exist in the natural environment in all three physical states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.
- Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon and there are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot.
- Planet earth is a “water planet” with over 100 sextillion acre-feet (10 to the 21st Power) of water. That’s 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water.
- Water is the most abundant molecule on the planet. However freshwater accounts for only 2.5% of that total amount.
- More that 2/3 of the total freshwater is tied up in ices and permanent snowcaps and another 30% is stored underground in aquifers, or in swamps or permafrost.
- 20% of the world’s fresh water supply is in the Great Lakes.
- Other freshwater lakes and streams contain only 3/10 of 1% of the earth’s total volume of water.
- If the entire world’s water were to fit into a gallon jug, only about one tablespoon would be freshwater.
Water Facts:
- Gallons of water needed (for grain etc.) to produce one steak: 26,000
- Population of the world without access to clean water: 17%
- Wasted water from a slowly dripping faucet, gallons per year: 300
- Water usage of people living in developing countries per day: 10 liters
- Water usage of people living in the US per day: 168 gallons (636 liters!)
- Cost of 1 Gallon of Mount Pleasant Waterworks water: $.003594
Barometric pressure directly affects the boiling point of water. For example, water boils at about 100 degrees Celsius at sea level, but only 68 degrees Celsius on the top of Mt. Everest. Water deep in the ocean can reach temperatures of hundreds of degrees and remain liquid. Also, frozen water is 9% lighter than liquid water, which is why ice floats on water.
Water moves around the earth in a water cycle which consists of five parts: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration and surface run-off. Over a period of one hundred years, a water molecule spends about 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, 2 weeks in lakes and rivers, and a week in the atmosphere.
Quiz
a. What is the total amount of water used to manufacture a new car?
b. At what temperature does water freeze?
c. At what temperature does water vaporize?
d. How much of the human body is made up of water?
e. How much of a tomato is water?
{Answers: a) 39,090 gallons, b) 32 degrees F, 0 degrees C, c) 212 degrees F, 100 degrees C, d) 66%, e) 95%}
(Clay Duffie is General Manager of Mount Pleasant Waterworks and has more than 30 years of experience in water and wastewater management practice. He is a past President of the South Carolina Water Pollution Control Association and the SC Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and has led numerous national seminars on environmental leadership and utility management issues.)
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--Press Room
