The Truth About Water

All over the world, people are searching for it, drilling for it, selling it or standing in line waiting for it.

70% of the earth's surface is covered with water, making it the most common substance on
earth.

Approximately 60 to 70% of the rural population in the developing world have neither access to a safe and convenient source of water nor a satisfactory means of waste disposal.

Every living thing needs water and every living thing is made of at least some water; e.g., a chicken is about 75% water and a pineapple is about 80% water.

More facts:

• Humans take in over 16,000 gallons of water during their lifetime and on average 2.5 quarts a day.
• Experts speculate that by 2000, the world's consumption of water will double from what it was in the 1980s.
• Since only 3% of the water on earth is freshwater, and 97% of the water is trapped in glaciers, most of the water on earth is not easily available.

Learn much more about water by viewing Facts About Water (pdf file). (You need Adobe Reader to view this file.)

You can also learn more by exploring the following sites:

• UNICEF's Voices of Youth: Be in the know about water and water fact sheet
• World Bank Development 360 Project: "River Lifeline" in Senegal and "Tapping More Water" in Ecuador
• BBC News World Water Crisis Map

View the areas currently experiencing droughts:

© Compare Infobase Pvt. Ltd. 2003–04. Source: Maps of World

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