#12 Odd Facts
By Alice Henry
@IreneVincent (15960)
United States
December 18, 2017 11:45pm CST
The United States population uses 450 billion gallons of water every single day. 97% of the water on this Earth in contained in our oceans, and 2% is frozen. But ocean water is not drinkable.
The 1% that is left, comes from two places: the Earth's surface, which includes rivers, lakes and streams) or from...GROUNDWATER.
What is ground water? It is the water that fills the cracks and pore spaces (aquifers) in rocks and sediments beneath the surface of the earth. Most groundwater is naturally PURE. It can remain undisturbed for years, even centuries. More than 90 % of drinking water comes from groundwater.
But, here is the problem: Gasoline or other harmful liquids have been allowed to leak from underground storage tanks into the groundwater supply. Pollutants seep into the ground from landfills or septic systems and runoff from fertilized fields and industrial areas. Homeowners also contaminate by dumping household chemicals down the drain or onto the ground.
It may seem like we have plenty of water, but remember that only 1% of the water on this Earth is drinkable. When its gone...what then?
4 people like this
3 responses
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
20 Dec 17
I'm glad you like my facts. I like to make everyone aware of environmental facts, especially. Here's a fact I just read this morning. "If we all recycled our Sunday paper, we could save over 500,000 trees every week." When I read that, I was shocked. Could that really be true? That seems impossible. In the same article, it said: "If every American family planted just one tree, over a billion pounds of "greenhouse gases" would be removed from the atmosphere every year."
I've been thinking about all the new neighborhoods in our area. Thousands of trees must have been cut down to clear the land for building new houses.
I don't actually get a Sunday paper, but I do pick up some smaller FREE local papers from time to time at the grocery stores.
2 people like this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
21 Dec 17
@lookatdesktop Yes, I posted something about this months ago. All the water that is on the Earth today is the same water that has always been here. The water is merely recycled over and over again. The Earth is like a terrarium. The water evaporates into the atmosphere from the oceans and is rained down again. The water-soaked clouds move the water from place to place and it comes down in the form of rain, snow, sleet and ice.
However, I still have doubts about dinosaurs roaming the Earth millions of years ago. But, I've posted my opinion on that too.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
21 Dec 17
Think about those dinosaurs millions of years ago, and figure the volumes of water they consumed back when. We are drinking the same water, recycled from millions of years of reptiles in a manner of speaking, Don't get too grossed out. It's had time to purify.
2 people like this
@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
19 Dec 17
We all die from thirst. Not good.
2 people like this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
20 Dec 17
Have you ever read the 38th chapter of Job? It explains how God created the earth to sustain itself. God created the water cycle of evaporation and rainfall. Ecclesiastes 1:1-7 He created the jet stream and the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle and all things that are necessary to sustain life on this earth. These things did not happen by chance nor by any type of Evolution. These life-sustaining cycles were put in place BEFORE humans were ever created.
I think it is so fascinating to read about these things in the Bible, don't you?
1 person likes this
@topffer (42155)
• France
19 Dec 17
Many countries, including yours, have installed desalination stations to use water from the Ocean. In the simplest ones the water is obtained by evaporation, and the process is less expensive than to extract groundwater. However the water obtained by evaporation, like rain water, lacks trace elements and is not very healthy.
2 people like this
