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What is Water?

 
 

MSFWD

Did-You-Know

 

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state (water vapor or steam). Water also exists in a liquid crystal state near hydrophilic surfaces. Under nomenclature used to name chemical compounds, Dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific name for water, though it is almost never used.

Water covers 70.9% of the Earth's surface, and is vital for all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5% of the planet's water is found in oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is freshwater, and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater (0.003%) is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.

Water on Earth moves continually through the hydrological cycle of evaporation and transpiration (evapotranspiration), condensation, precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land.

Safe drinking water is essential to humans and other lifeforms. Access to safe drinking water has improved over the last decades in almost every part of the world, but approximately one billion people still lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion lack access to adequate sanitation. There is a clear correlation between access to safe water and GDP per capita. However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability. A recent report (November 2009) suggests that by 2030, in some developing regions of the world, water demand will exceed supply by 50%. Water plays an important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of the fresh water used by humans goes to agriculture.

Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com

 
bullet What is Water
bullet How Water Works
bullet The World's Water Supply
bullet Water Regulation
bullet Human Water Consumption
bullet Water Purification
bullet The Water Cycle
bullet Plant & Animal Water Consumption
bullet Water Properties
bullet How much Water is there on Earth
bullet Why can't we manufacture Water
bullet Creating Water from thin Air
bullet Cloud Seeding & the British Disaster
bullet How Floods Work
bullet Water, Water Everywhere
bullet Under the Weather
bullet Take me to the River
bullet Come Hell or High Water
 
 

About Us | Services | Consumer Tips | Officials | News & Updates | Did You Know | Contact Us | Search | Search the Web

What is Water | How Water Works | The World's Water Supply | Water Regulation | Human Water Consumption | Water Purification | The Water Cycle

Plant & Animal Water Consumption | Water Properties | How much water is there on Earth | Why can't we manufacture Water

 Creating Water from thin Air | Cloud Seeding & the British Disaster | How Floods Work | Water, Water Everywhere

Under the Weather | Take me to the River | Come Hell or High Water

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