Fun facts about water

Water is a resource that we use everyday without thinking about. But do we really realise how much we need it and how amazing it is? We've collated some interesting facts about water which you might not know (we were surprised by a couple)!

1. There is the same amount of water on the Earth now as the day it was formed. It is the same water that has been here for nearly 5 billion years.
2. We can only use 1% of the water on the Earth in our homes, business and agriculture. The other 97% is salt water and the other 2% is locked in glaciers and ice. That's why water is such a precious resource.
3. Ice floats in water because when it freezes, it expands by around 9%, making it less dense than in liquid form. That's why pipes often burst in the cold weather.
4. Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and the deepest measured part of the Ocean is the Challenger Deep. It’s located in the Pacific Ocean and is 6.8 miles deep. In fact we know more about space than some of the deepest parts of our seas and oceans.
5. Around 60 - 75% of a human body is water. This varies based on gender and age. Newborn babies are up to 80% water and males bodies are composed of more water than females. Interestingly, lungs are 83% water and even your bones are 31% water!
6. In 2021, the average water usage in the UK and Wales was 152 litres per person per day.
7. More than half of the water used in your home is use the bathroom. So why not use a shower meter to help you to easily reduce this?
8. Whilst the supply of water has remained constant, the demand for water had increased up to 6 fold in the last century due to increased population, mass agriculture and manufacturing needs.

Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash