The Delicate State of Water

When it comes to water, no one can deny its importance and the need to protect it. I wanted to share some facts about water, some of which you may know already:

• Water covers about 71% of the earth's surface.

• 326 million cubic miles of water on the planet

• 97% of the earth's water is found in the oceans (too salty for drinking, growing crops, and most industrial uses except cooling).

• 320 million cubic miles of water in the oceans

• 3% of the earth's water is fresh.

• 2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable: locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil; highly polluted; or lies too far under the earth's surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.

• 0.5% of the earth's water is available fresh water.

• If the world's water supply were only 100 liters (26 gallons), our usable water supply of fresh water would be only about 0.003 liter (one-half teaspoon).

• In actuality, that amounts to an average of 8.4 million liters (2.2 million gallons) for each person on earth.

• This supply is continually collected, purified, and distributed in the natural hydrologic (water) cycle.
  

As you can see, water continues to be a delicate resource we must all protect. If Earth was just 28 inches in diameter, all the water would fit into one cup. Remember, only 0.5% of the water is fresh and available. Getting highly filtered water as opposed to bottled water is a gigantic step towards the reduction of plastic use, toxic manufacturing of this oil-based product, and the long-term effects future generations will have to face.

Source: Water Facts - Worldwide Water Supply - Bureau of Reclamation