FUN WATER FACTS

• Water acts as a natural insulator to regulate the Earth’s temperature.

• 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

• In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

• Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.

• One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a U-Washington study.

• Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

• Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of people.

• A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

• Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

• 75% of the earth is covered with water.

• 97% of Earth’s water is in the oceans. Only 1% of the Earth’s water is available for drinking; 2% is currently frozen.

• Water is the only substance on Earth found naturally in three forms solid, liquid, and gas.

• One gallon of water weighs approximately eight pounds.

• One gallon of water is equal to 3.785 liters of water.

• One cubic foot of water is equal to 7.48 gallons of water.

• Water boils at 212o Fahrenheit or 100o Celsius.

• Water freezes at 32o Fahrenheit or 0o Celsius.

• You can survive about a month without food, but only five to seven days without water.

• 70% of your skin is water.

• A dairy cow must drink four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk.

• It is possible to drink water that was here in the dinosaur era.

• On average, a person uses about 100 gallons of water a day. During medieval times a person used only 5 gallons per day

• A five minute shower takes 10 to 25 gallons of water.

• An automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of water to wash one load.

• 1.5 to 7 gallons of water are used to flush a toilet. Newly manufactured toilets can only flush a maximum of 1.6 gallons of water.

• 2,072 gallons of water are used to make four new car tires.

• 300 million gallons of water are needed to produce a single day’s supply of the world’s newsprint.

• The first water pipes in the U.S. were made from charred bored logs.

• Sources of water pollution include oil spills, fertilizer and agricultural run-off, sewage, storm water, and industrial wastes.

• Ancient Egyptians treated water by siphoning water out of the top of huge jars after allowing the muddy water from the Nile River to settle.

• Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, directed people in Greece to boil and strain water before drinking it.

• In the 1950’s scientists began to suspect that water might carry diseases. Although earlier treatment of water could make the water safer, it was mainly done to improve the taste, smell or looks of the water.

• The first United States water plant with filters was built in 1872 in Poughkeepsie, New York.

• In Altona, Germany in 1892, the water from the Elbe River was filtered before drinking. At the time, hundreds of people from nearby Hamburg (which did not filter their water) died from cholera. The citizens of Altona were untouched by this waterborne disease.

• In 1908, Jersey City, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois were the first water supplies to be chlorinated in the United States.

• The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 represents the first time that public drinking water supplies were protected on a federal (national) level in the United States. Amendments were made to the SDWA in 1986 and 1996.

Are you Drinking Enough Water?

EDITORIAL NOTE Memory Lane, what a journey. Technology has brought new meaning into our homes; however, let us not forget the days when families gathered around the table and spent quality time together. Pass on the traditions of the heart of the family.