20 Interesting and Useful Water Facts

20 Interesting and Useful Water Facts



1. Roughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made up of water.
2. At birth, water accounts for approximately 80 percent of an infant’s body weight.
3. A healthy person can drink about three gallons (48 cups) of water per day.
4. Drinking too much water too quickly can lead to water intoxication. Water intoxication occurs when water dilutes the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an imbalance of water in the brain.
5. Water intoxication is most likely to occur during periods of intense athletic performance.
6. While the daily recommended amount of water is eight cups per day, not all of this water must be consumed in the liquid form. Nearly every food or drink item provides some water to the body.
7. Soft drinks, coffee, and tea, while made up almost entirely of water, also contain caffeine. Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, preventing water from traveling to necessary locations in the body.
8. Pure water (solely hydrogen and oxygen atoms) has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.
9. Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Wherever it travels, water carries chemicals, minerals, and nutrients with it.
10. Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water.
11. Much more fresh water is stored under the ground in aquifers than on the earth’s surface.
12. The earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, meaning that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today.
13. The total amount of water on the earth is about 326 million cubic miles of water.
14. Of all the water on the earth, humans can used only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.
15. The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day.
16. The United States uses nearly 80 percent of its water for irrigation and thermoelectric power.
17. The average person in the United States uses anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day. Flushing the toilet actually takes up the largest amount of this water.
18. Approximately 85 percent of U.S. residents receive their water from public water facilities. The remaining 15 percent supply their own water from private wells or other sources.
19. By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water amount.
20. The weight a person loses directly after intense physical activity is weight from water, not fat.
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10 Reasons to Drink Water



1. Water is absolutely essential to the human body’s survival. A person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
2. Water helps to maintain healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite.
3. Water leads to increased energy levels. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.
4. Drinking adequate amounts of water can decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, including colon cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer.
5. For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain.
6. Water leads to overall greater health by flushing out wastes and bacteria that can cause disease.
7. Water can prevent and alleviate headaches.
8. Water naturally moisturizes skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance.
9. Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.
10. Water is the primary mode of transportation for all nutrients in the body and is essential for proper circulation.
Bottle water



It is hard to argue the fact that waste management has become a large problem in the world, with landfills growing to enormous sizes and recycling rates remaining dismally low. The number of plastic bottles produced by the bottled water industry and subsequently discarded by consumers has only exacerbated this problem.

According to a 2001 report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), roughly 1.5 million tons of plastic are expended in the bottling of 89 billion liters of water each year.

Besides the sheer number of plastic bottles produced each year, the energy required to manufacture and transport these bottles to market severely drains limited fossil fuels. Bottled water companies, due to their unregulated use of valuable resources and their production of billions of plastic bottles have presented a significant strain on the environment.

The authors of the WWF report suggested that water bottles be washed and reused in order to lessen their negative impact on the environment. Unfortunately, reusing plastic bottles further compromises the quality of the water, due to the fact that more and more phthalate leaches its way into the water as the bottle gets older. In another suggestion, the authors recommended that bottled water companies use local bottling facilities in order to lessen fuel expenditures for transportation needs. Regrettably, local bottling further compromises water quality due to the reduced health standards for in-state bottled water production and consumption. It seems there is no feasible solution to this problem. The bottled water industry causes a severe strain on the environment, but solutions to this environmental damage significantly lessen the quality of water in the bottles.
Bottled water, because it is defined as a “food” under federal regulations, is under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—under much stricter standards—regulates tap water. Thus, bottled water, depending upon the brand, may actually be less clean and safe than tap water. The EPA mandates that local water treatment plants provide city residents with a detailed account of tap water’s source and the results of any testing, including contaminant level violations. Bottled water companies are under no such directives.

Also, while municipal water systems must test for harmful microbiological content in water several times a day, bottled water companies are required to test for these microbes only once a week.

Similarly, public water systems are required to test for chemical water contaminants four times as often as bottled water companies. In addition, loopholes in the FDA’s testing policy do not require the same standards for water that is bottled and sold in the same state, meaning that a significant number of bottles have undergone almost no regulation or testing.

Even under the more lax standards of the FDA, bottled water companies do not always comply with standardized contaminant levels.

Alarmingly, the 1999 NRDC study found that 18 of the 103 bottled water brands tested contained, in at least one sample, “more bacteria than allowed under microbiological-purity guidelines.”

Also, about one fifth of the brands tested positive for the presence of synthetic chemicals, such as industrial chemicals and chemicals used in manufacturing plastic like phthalate, a harmful chemical that leaches into bottled water from its plastic container. In addition, bottled water companies are not required to test for cryptosporidium, the chlorine-resistant protozoan that infected more than 400,000 Milwaukee residents in 1993. Bottled water companies, because they are not under the same accountability standards as municipal water systems, may provide a significantly lower quality of water than the water one typically receives from the tap.

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According to WHO 10 fact to water scarcity
1.World Water Day is celebrated every year on 22 March. The theme for 2007 is ‘water scarcity’. Even in areas with plenty of rainfall or freshwater, water scarcity occurs. Because of the ways in which water is used and distributed, there is not always enough water to fully meet the demands of households, farms, industry, and the environment.
2.Water scarcity already affects every continent and four of every ten people in the world. The situation is getting worse due to population growth, urbanization and the increase in domestic and industrial water use.
3.By 2025, nearly 2 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water shortage, where water resources per person fall below the recommended level of 500 cubic metres per year. This is the amount of water a person needs for a healthy and hygienic living
4.Water scarcity forces people to rely on unsafe sources of drinking water. It also means they cannot bathe or clean their clothes or homes properly.
5.Poor water quality can increase the risk of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, salmonellosis, other gastrointestinal viruses, and dysentery. Water scarcity may also lead to diseases such as trachoma, plague and typhus. Trachoma, for example, is strongly related to a lack of water for regular face washing.
6.Water scarcity encourages people to store water in their homes. This can increase the risk of household water contamination and provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes - which are vectors for dengue, dengue haemorrhagic fever, and malaria and other diseases.
7. Water scarcity underscores the need for better water management. Good water management reduces breeding sites for disease vectors, which leads to reduced transmission of malaria, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis and Japanese encephalitis
8.Millennium Development Goal number 7, target 10 aims "to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation". The world is still on track to reach the drinking water target, but increasing water scarcity may seriously undermine progress towards achieving this goal.
9. Everyone needs water and everyone needs to take responsibility. Actively support governments, non-governmental organizations and private foundations which are making it a priority to deliver affordable good quality water to people.
10. Do your part by conserving, recycling and protecting water more efficiently.
Why Is Water So Important for a Bodybuilder?
From an early age, we all learn that we depend on water for our survival. We can go weeks without food, but no more than about 48 hours without water. And although most people trying to gain weight understand that water is essential to their general health, they don't realize how large of a role water plays when it comes to building muscle mass. Staying well hydrated every day is a crucial part of your muscle building program, that shouldn't be overlooked. Why you ask?
Dehydration will effect your strength, energy levels, and ability to build muscle - so get drinking!
As much as 70% of your body is comprised of water - including 83% of your blood, 22% of your bone, and a whopping 75% of your muscle tissue. If you are dehydrated, water levels in all of these parts of your body will decrease. Once this happens you can forget about building muscle as this will be your bodies last priority - that is if you even have the energy to lift weights!
Also consider that water is ranked second only to oxygen as the most important nutrient for the body, and studies have proven that even slight decreases in the body's water balance can seriously effect a persons health and performance. This means that even with dehydration levels as low as 3%, you are likely to have less energy, less strength, and your body will be less likely to perform the tasks required to help your muscles grow.
Simply put, water Promotes a Muscle Building Environment Within your Body! Here are some of the other roles adequate water intake plays in relation to building muscle:
• Maintaining peak strength - Significant hydration will actually make you stronger. Even slight dehydration (3-4%) can decrease your strength by upwards of 15%. In order to maximize the intensity of your weight training workouts and break down as many muscle fibers as you can, it is important to be at your strongest each and every workout.

• Protecting the joints - Synovial fluid is the only form"lubrication" of the joints in your body. And guess what? It is comprised of mostly water. It is important that you are well hydrated so your body can produce all of the fluid it needs. If the body cannot produce enough synovial fluid due to chronic dehydration, you could be compromising your joints each time you workout.

• Aiding in digestion - Eating a well balanced muscle building diet will not help if your body can't properly digest the food you consume. Water helps the digestive system function, allowing your body to absorb the nutrients it needs to help your body recover from your workouts, and build muscle.

Now let's take it a step further and take a look at three symptoms of dehydration that will affect the progress of your muscle building program.
Here are the symptoms in no particular order:
1). Fatigue - This one is a no brainer. If your energy levels are low, your weight training workouts will suffer. You may not even feel like training at all!
2). Digestion Problems - You body will not have enough water to secrete as much digestive juices as it should, resulting in difficulty digesting foods. This will make it more difficult for your body to absorb the nutrients it needs to repair and rebuild muscle tissue.
3) High or Low Blood Pressure - If the volume of water in the body is too low, it can lead to both high and low blood pressure. Both will make your weight training workouts difficult, and in some cases unsafe.
You probably get the point by now. Water is an extremely important part of your muscle building program. Make sure you drink as much as possible!!
The Water Requirements of The Bodybuilder
The water needs of the bodybuilder vary, and must be assessed on an individual basis. It is important to take a number of specific factors in to consideration when trying to estimate your daily water intake.
The actual amount of water you require depends the following factors:
• Climate - The hotter the climate, the more you will perspire. This one of the fastest ways the body loses water. During the summer months, and in areas that are hot all year round, a higher water intake is necessary.

• Your initial hydration level - If you currently suffer from chronic dehydration like many people do, you will have to drink much more water from the get go to help your body catch up to the hydration level it should be at.

• Your level of physical activity - The more physically active you are, the more water you need to consume daily - that's a given. It's important that you consume more water on your training days since you will perspire much more than on a non training day. If you participate in any other activities or sports, it is also important to up your water intake on those days as well.
Daily hydration guidelines are important for bodybuilders to follow. Studies have shown that in order to achieve peak performance, your body must by hydrated from the start of your workout session. This means that you have to make sure you are fully hydrated before you even begin to weight train.
How Much Water Should I Drink?
There are a few ways to determine how much water you should consume on a daily basis. None are completely accurate, however they do give you a general idea of how much water you need. Determining what your actual intake needs to be will involve some experimentation with your own body. As a general rule you are adequately hydrated if:
You are urinating every one and a half to two hour. your urine is clear and odorless.
If you are only urinating a few times a day and your urine is a dark yellow color, you are probably not drinking enough water and should increase your intake.
Here is a simple formula to estimate your daily water consumption. That formula is:
Body weight X 0.6 = Daily water intake (Ounces)
Here is an example of how that formula works, using a 180 pound man as an example:
180 LBS X 0.6 = 108 Ounces
So a 180 pound man that is weight trains at a high intensity three to four times a week should try to consume about eleven 8oz cups of water each day. That may sound like a lot, and although you might be taking more trips to the bathroom each day then you are used to, it's a small price to pay for the huge benefits of staying hydrated.


Putting it All Together
Maintaining adequate hydration levels is extremely important for a bodybuilder. Without enough water, you will lose strength, hinder digestion, and slow your metabolic process, which will ultimately sacrifice muscle gains. Be sure to drink plenty of water every day, throughout the entire day, and constantly monitor your hydration levels to ensure that your tank is constantly on full!

Pounds Grams Kilograms
Cubic cm. 0.002205 1 0.001
Cubic inch 0.036127 16.387064 0.0163871
Liter 2.204684 1000.028 1.000028
Gallon 8.345404 3785.4118 3.7854118
Cubic foot 62.42796 28316.847 28.316847
A more comprehensive version of these conversion tables is supplied in an Excel worksheet, UNITS.XLS.