Asia Water Wire - Water Fact

Worldwide Shortage of Water Predicted

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:25:02 -0500

The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of people won't have enough water, top scientists will say next month at a meeting in Belgium.

At the same time, tens of millions of people will be flooded out of their homes each year as the Earth reels from rising temperatures and sea levels, according to portions of a draft of an international scientific report obtained by The Associated Press.

Living Without Water

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:14:20 -0500

Despite its name and hopping gait, the kangaroo rat actually has more in common with a camel than with its much larger marsupial namesake.

The kangaroo rat is a rodent, but it is unlike any other rodent on Earth: it is able to survive in the desert with virtually no drinking water. The camel is the only other mammal that can match this feat, and yet the kangaroo rat looks nothing like the ‘ship of the desert’.

Quick Freeze

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:09:36 -0500

The Mpemba Effect is a special phenomenon where hot water freezes faster than cold water. The discovery of this effect was made by a high school student named Mpemba in Tanzania, Africa in 1969. He noticed this phenomenon while making ice cream and was curious enough to make note of it. His teachers did not believe it was possible, and it took several years until university professors finally accepted his discovery.

It tastes better than bottle mineral water

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:21:52 -0500

A glass of tap water has beaten bottled mineral waters costing thousands of times as much in a blind taste test by some of the most experienced palates in Britain. Experts including a leading sommelier and a wine critic put a glass of Thames Water's standard tap water at third equal in a tasting of 24 different waters. The water, from a tap in South Kensington, London, costs less than 1p a litre but was rated higher than mineral waters costing £50.

PET Peeve

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:24:41 -0600

Plastic water bottles, found in family refrigerators and office coolers, are packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. The amount of PET used per bottle depends on the style, thickness, and size of the bottle. PET is produced from fossil fuels — typically natural gas and petroleum.

The PET production process also relies on other energy sources, including thermal and electric sources. The European plastics manufacturing industry found that producing a tonne of PET resin requires 83,000 millijoules of energy. They also estimate that transporting the resin and converting it into bottles requires an additional 20,000 MJ of energy per tonne of PET. When put together, the energy to produce and transport the PET resin, and then mold it into bottles, totals approximately 100,000 MJ per tonne of PET.

Precious Commodity

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:23:48 -0600

It took approximately 17 million barrels of oil equivalent to produce plastic for bottled water consumed by Americans in 2006 — enough energy to fuel more than 1 million American cars and light trucks for a year, according to a Pacific Institute study.

(Source: http://www.pacinst.org)

Water Wisdom

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:22:29 -0600

Hippocrates, also known as the Greek father of medicine, was the first person to recognise the importance of purifying water when he told people in Greece to boil and strain water before drinking it.

Ancient Egyptians treated water by siphoning it out of the top of huge jars filled with water from the Nile River.

(Source:

Ancient Energy Source

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:20:52 -0600

Electricity from geothermal energy was first produced in 1904 in Italy. But geothermal energy was used in the heyday of the Roman empore. The Romans used geothermally heated water to treat certain illnesses and for underfloor heating. The First Nations or Native Americans are known to have used geothermal energy as far back as 8,000 B.C. Today, electricity from geothermal energy is now produced in more than 20 countries around the world, accounting for more than 7,000 megawatts of our global electricity provision.

A 'Taste' of Things to Come

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:47:44 -0500

NASA will soon be recycling urine from humans and lab animals, as well as water used for washing and other necessities, in space stations for astronauts' consumption. Thanks to a high-tech water recovery system (WRS), all kinds of waste water will become potable, even better than city tap. "This recycled water is thousands of times better than the water taken from water treatment plants on the Earth," say NASA officials.

Currently, each International Space Station member user, according to NASA, consumes 4.4 litres (1.2 gallons) each day of water. One litre of water is estimated to cost 11,000 U.S. dollars. The cost to transport water up to the ISS each year? A whopping 24 million dollars.

With the new WRS set to be transported to the ISS in October 2008, the crew will be able to recycle 93 percent of all water used on the station. About 85 percent of urine will also be reused.

Tainted Water

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:48:52 -0500

Inadequate and, oftentimes, contaminated drinking water has severely impacted the health of populations in many countries. Some of the countries with significant populations whose only consumption is of contaminated water include Sudan (12.3 million), Iran (5.6 million), Venezuela (5.0 million), Syria (3.8 million), Zimbabwe (2.7 million), Tunisia (2.1 million), and Cuba (1,2 million). (Source: Wi

Too Much to Drink

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:47:57 -0500

It is possible to drink too much water. In a condition called hyponatremia — low sodium levels in the blood —the electrolyte (mineral) content of the blood is diluted, resulting in the kidneys being unable to secrete the body's excess water. It is said that endurance athletes, such as marathon runners, who drink large amounts of water are at higher risk of hyponatremia. (Source:

Water Sources

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:44:31 -0500

On the average, food provides about 20 percent of total water intake, while the remaining 80 percent comes from water and beverages of all kinds. Fruits and vegetables such as watermelon and cucumbers are nearly 100 percent water by weight. Even beer, wine and caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea or soda can be sources of water but these should be a major portion of one's daily total fluid intake.

Ocean Deep

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:19:21 -0500

A huge underground 'ocean' the size of the Arctic Ocean has been found hundreds of miles beneath eastern Asia, according to scientists. The water was found via an underground seismic wave scanner.

The 'wet zone' discovery is said to run from Indonesia to the northern tip of Russia.

According to reports, the water is "locked in moisture-containing rocks 400 to 800 miles (700 to 1,400 kilometres) beneath the surface. Experts say that the water got there during a shifting of the earth's tectonic plates. This caused the ocean bottom to be pulled beneath continental plates all around the Pacific Rim, they added.

Precious Rainwater Cellars

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:18:11 -0500

China has built 12 million water cellars, a way of collecting rainfall, across some 700 counties in 13 regions over the past two decades. These rainwater catchment facilities provide drinking water to a population of 36 million and irrigate hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland all over the said regions.
(Source: Xinhua Net, July 25, 2007)

Safe Water Wanted

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:16:45 -0500

In proportion to population size, the regions with the least access to safe water are the Pacific islands (48 percent of people do not have access) and sub-Saharan Africa (42 percent do not have access).