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884 million people lack access to clean water - that's almost 3 times the population of the United Sates!
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An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day.
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People living in informal settlements (i.e. slums) often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
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The earth is a closed system, 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.
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Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water, but much more fresh water is stored under the ground in aquifers than on the earth's surface.
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About half the world's hospital beds are occupied by someone with a water related illness.
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It takes over 11,000 liters of water to produce a pound of coffee.
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Of all the water on the earth, humans can use only about three tenths of 1% of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.
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Nearly seven times more water is used to make a disposable water bottle than it contains.
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Bottles used to package water take over 1,000 years to bio-degrade and if incinerated, they produce toxic fumes. It is estimated that over 80% of all single-use water bottles used in the U.S. simply become "litter."
19 Sept.2012
