Fascinating Facts About Water
- If all the earth's water could be stored in a 5 litre container, available fresh water would not quite fill a teaspoon.
- Water is the only substance found on earth naturally in three forms – solid, liquid and gas.
- Freshwater lakes and rivers, ice and snow, and underground aquifers hold only 2.5 per cent of the world's water. By comparison, saltwater oceans and seas contain 97.5 per cent of the world's water supply.
- There are an estimated 2 million lakes in Canada covering approximately 7.6 per cent of Canada's land area. Canada has more lake area than any other country in the world.
- In Canada, there is more water underground than on the surface.
- In Manitoba, 30.2 per cent of the population relies on groundwater for domestic use.
- Approximately 60 per cent of Canada's fresh water drains to the north, while 85 per cent of the population lives along the southern border with the United States.
- The same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is still here due to the water cycle that continually recycles water all around the globe.
Hidden uses of water
Everything we use has some amount of water in it or in the process to grow and/or produce the item.
- Producing 1 kilogram of paper takes approximately 300 litres of fresh water.
- Manufacturing a new car, including the tires, takes about 148,000 litres of fresh water.
- Producing one ton of steel takes about 237,000 litres of fresh water.
- Processing one can of fruit or vegetables takes about 35 litres of fresh water.
- Growing and processing the beans for one cup of coffee takes 140 litres of fresh water.
- Producing one litre of milk takes 1,000 litres of fresh water.
- Producing 1 kilogram of beef takes about 16,000 litres of fresh water.
Sources: Environment Canada, Statistics Canada, US Geological Service, US Environmental Protection Agency
