Water & earth
The Water, the Earth and Us
Water is the most important natural resource on Earth; it is at the heart of life. The blue planet, Earth is indeed the only celestial body that makes human life possible. Moreover, it is its infinite oceans, rivers, and freshwater sources that allow us to survive. From what we know, the first human civilizations took shape near rivers. The Nile, the Ganges, and the Euphrates were all places where humans began to settle on Earth. Across the four corners of the planet, the main rivers have played an important role in the evolution of mankind. For indeed, water is a vital component for us human beings. We use it to quench our thirst, wash ourselves, clean our belongings, and it proves useful for many other uses as well. Without water, life would simply be impossible.
On the surface, water seems abundant and inexhaustible on Earth, and that is certainly why our Western societies have experienced a great deal of wastefulness in terms of water over the past few decades. But in the current climatic and economic context, can we affirm today that our water resources are inexhaustible? Certainly not.
Water on Earth: what is its role?
Whether liquid, solid, or gaseous, water is a fundamental component of life. In its liquid form, it contributes to the maintenance of life in human body cells and controls erosion, thus defining the Earth's relief.
In its gaseous form, it protects the Earth from UV rays and facilitates thermal transfer between the atmosphere, oceans, and continents, thus ensuring the maintenance of temperature across the entire planet.
If, according to the data, water covers more than 70%, or 1,400 million km³, of the Earth's surface, only a thin proportion of this water is truly accessible to us. Indeed, 97% of water resources are found in oceans and seas. Consumable freshwater accounts for only 3% of this abundant quantity of water, or 35 million km³. But that's not all.
Of these 3% of freshwater and consumable water, only 0.3% is accessible on the surface. Therefore, we can only use a very small amount of the water available on Earth. As a result, freshwater remains a fairly rare commodity, which is why we must strive to preserve it.
How much water do we need to live?
The human body is composed of 60% water, and this can even go up to 80% in the case of an infant. Almost omnipresent, water is found in our tissues, our 50 trillion cells, our fluids (blood, digestive juices, intestinal secretions), etc. It therefore has multiple roles such as regulating body temperature, hormonal regulation, eliminating toxins through urine, transporting vitamins and other nutrients through the blood, and many more.
That said, although the human body is largely made up of water, it is not capable of storing water. Otherwise, we would never be thirsty, which is why we must consume water constantly. On average, our body expends more than two liters each day to produce blood, saliva, gastric juices, intestinal secretions, mucus, etc. Some of the water is also eliminated through urine, sweat, tears, and breathing.
Thus, we approximately need 2.5 liters of water daily to compensate for our daily water loss. One liter of water will come from food and 1.5 liters from drinks. In other words, we could not survive without a source of hydration for three days.
Indeed, from 2 % dehydration, we already feel thirsty, which becomes unbearable at 3 % dehydration. From 5 %, dehydration causes difficulties in concentration, headaches, and a loss of 20 to 30 % of athletic performance. Therefore, it is necessary to hydrate throughout the day to ensure good body health.
But the amount of water drunk per day actually represents only a very small proportion of the amount of water a human being needs each day. Today, according to some statistics, each French person consumes between 140 and 150 liters of water per day.
In 2014, the daily water consumption per person was about 165 liters. This decrease in water consumption observed over several years can mainly be explained by the increase in the price of water. From this amount of water consumed :
- 39 % is dedicated to personal hygiene ;
- 20 % for sanitation (use of the flush, brushing teeth, etc.) ;
- 12 % is used for laundry ;
- 12 % for maintenance and cleaning work (housing, garden watering, car washing, etc.) ;
- 10 % for dishwashing ;
- 6 % for cooking ;
- 1 % for drinking.
Given all these uses, one can imagine that a water shortage would be a real disaster and would disrupt our daily habits. In some arid areas of the world, spending a quarter of an hour in the shower is already considered a true luxury.
Water, an inexhaustible resource?
According to several studies, every second, the planet consumes 1.3 million liters of water, a figure that exceeds the capacity for replenishing the planet's water reserves or stocks.
Water resources are therefore not inexhaustible. Abundant, yes. Inexhaustible, no. Indeed, the water we drink is drawn from lakes and rivers, that is to say from surface waters, which unfortunately are threatened with drying up.
Currently, UNICEF estimates that nearly 2.2 billion people still do not have access to drinking water from their homes. If water is life, non-potable water has proven to be one of the main causes of mortality in the world, as several million people are still forced to consume unsafe water nowadays.
Having become a public health issue, the relevant authorities are putting all necessary means in place to ensure that the water supply is potable. Nevertheless, in certain circumstances, incidents can occur in the distribution networks. The tap water then loses its clarity and sometimes even has an unpleasant odor. In these cases, the water is truly polluted; it may contain a large amount of bacteria, arsenic, or limestone.
Such events prompt consumers to question the quality of the water they consume daily from the tap and, if necessary, to seek alternatives.
Bottled water to compensate for the shortcomings of network water?
Since tap water is not always safe, a good part of the population prefers to turn to bottled water deemed healthier. Thus, the bottled water industry generates nearly 30 billion dollars in annual revenue, and each year we see a 12% increase.
These are impressive figures, especially when we consider the number of non-renewable resources that this implies. Like oil and natural gas, which are used to transform the 1.5 million tons of plastic material into bottles. We must also add these tons of plastic bottles, which should be recycled but are practically never recycled, thus polluting the Earth a little more each time.
Moreover, what about the greenhouse gases emitted into nature during the transport of water bottles from one country to another? About 25% of the 90 billion liters of bottled water each year are exported outside the country of origin. In short, bottled water may give the feeling of being healthier, but upon reflection, we lose much more than we gain.
Rather than investing in bottled water and thus participating in this ecological massacre, we need to find other alternatives to use the water at our disposal more intelligently.
Why filter the water available to us?
We are not all very used to it. However, filtering water from our homes has many advantages. In addition to saving us money and avoiding plastic bottles and all the ecological consequences they entail, it allows us to drink healthy and pure water without particles.
Indeed, healthy and pure water means:
- Water free from parasitic microorganisms, pathogenic germs, etc.;
- Water free from dangerous chemical substances (hydrocarbons, heavy metals, nitrates, etc.);
- Water containing mineral salts (calcium, chlorine, potassium, magnesium, etc.);
- Water containing trace elements (zinc, manganese, fluoride, etc.)
It is important to note that tap water is not systematically pure and healthy water. Indeed, 62% of this water comes from the groundwater and 38% from surface water. It undergoes antibacterial treatments in factories and is then stored in water towers before being redistributed in your pipes.
Due to the degradation of the state of certain pipes, the water, during its transport to the taps, can become loaded with micropollutants, residues, metals, impurities (sand, rust, etc.)
It is therefore more than necessary to install filters in our homes to filter the tap water, make it healthier, and rid it of its chlorine taste as well as the odor that we sometimes smell too strongly.
On the other hand, water can be loaded with limestone. Without a water filter, the limestone contained in the water that flows in our kitchens can degrade the flavor and nutritional quality of the food we consume. Over time, this same limestone can promote the formation of limescale, accumulating in our sanitary appliances and pipes, thus accelerating their wear and reducing their lifespan.
In this context, drawing on several years of experience in the field of water filtration, Weeplow offers you a whole range of water filters, whether for your coffee machines or for your daily consumption.
