Got Water? - The Ugly Truth About Water

The truth about water is not a very pretty picture. Many people take the availability of water for use in their daily lives for granted. There is an ugly truth about water many people do not take into account and this is due mainly to being uninformed about how fragile this resource is and how dependent they are on water for their very lives.

One look at the percentages and you will come to realize just how fragile our very existence can be without water. Here are some of the hard facts about water:

1.) Approximately 70 % of the earth is covered by water.

2.) Approximately 97 % of that water is salt water in our oceans.

3.) Approximately 3 % of that water is fresh water in our surface and ground waters.

If you do the math that means that only .021 % of all the water on earth is in the form of fresh water sources that can be used for our needs. Although some water de-salination projects are in very limited use, their high costs and very low yields do not have any practical effect on these numbers.

Now we go one step further and breakdown the availability of freshwater:

1.) Approximately 97% of all fresh water is in the form of icecaps and glaciers.

2.) Approximately 2 % of all fresh water is in the form of groundwater (aquifers).

3.) Approximately 1 % of all fresh water is in the form of surface water (lakes, rivers, streams, etc.)

The numbers are not looking to be in our favor now as the percentages keep getting smaller and the odds of being able to get ice cubes from the poles is really not an option for most people. But the limited availability of fresh water gets even worse when you include the fact that approximately 11% of our surface water in the U.S. suffers some form of contamination due to pollution by a variety of contaminants. In the developing third world countries, 90% of all their wastewater continues to go untreated into their local rivers and streams. It’s also important to remember that approximately 88% of all diseases are caused by the lack of fresh water for drinking and sanitation purposes. It has also been predicted that the world’s available supply of fresh water will decline by 30% by the year 2025.

The importance of making sure that you have adequate water that is safe for consumption or to provide for proper sanitation is of the utmost importance. With the lack of safe water that could happen at any time due to a water main break, a flood, or a chemical spill, this most important and vital resource for our health and well-being should be first among your basic priorities.

Check the status of the surface water pollution in your state here:

http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/water/rank-states-assess.tcl

Also check the article Water Wars at Texas Prepper's Network .

Got water?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker