Water & earth
Water, earth and us
Water is the most important natural resource on Earth, it is at the heart of life. A blue planet, the Earth is the only star making human life possible. Furthermore, it is these infinite oceans, rivers and fresh water springs 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 man began to settle on Earth. In the 4 corners of the planet, the main rivers have played an important role in the evolution of man. Because in fact, water is a vital component for us human beings. We use it for drinking, washing, cleaning our belongings and it is useful for many other uses. Without water life would simply be impossible.
On the surface, water seems abundant and inexhaustible on Earth and this is certainly the reason why our Western societies have experienced a lot of excesses in terms of water waste in recent decades. But in the current climatic and economic context, can we say today that our water resources are inexhaustible? Certainly not.
Water on earth: what is its role?
Whether liquid, solid or gas, water is a fundamental component of life. In its liquid form, it helps maintain the life of cells in the human body and controls erosion, thus defining the earth's relief.
In its gaseous form, it protects the earth from UV rays and facilitates heat transfer between the atmosphere, oceans and continents, thus ensuring that the temperature is maintained across the entire planet.
If, according to data, water covers more than 70%, or 1,400 million km3, of the earth's surface, only a small proportion of this water is truly accessible to us. In fact, 97% of water resources are found in the oceans and seas. Fresh water, consumable, represents only 3% of this abundant quantity of water, or 35 million km3. But that's not all.
Of these 3% of fresh and consumable water resources, only 0.3% is accessible on the surface. We can therefore only use a very small amount of the water available on Earth. As a result, fresh water 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 made up 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 50,000 billion cells, our fluids (blood, digestive juices, intestinal secretions) etc. It therefore has multiple roles such as the regulation of body temperature, hormonal regulation, the elimination of toxins through urine, the delivery of vitamins and other nutrients through the blood and many others.
That said, although the human body mass is made up largely of water, the human body is not capable of storing water. Otherwise, we would never feel thirsty, which is why we need to consume water consistently. On average, our body spends more than 2 liters every day to produce blood, saliva, gastric juices, intestinal secretions, mucus, etc. Some water is also eliminated through urine, sweat, tears, and breathing.
So, we need approximately 2.5 liters of water daily to compensate for our daily water loss. 1 liter of water will be provided by food and 1.5 liters by drinks. In other words, we could not survive without a source of hydration for 3 days.
Indeed, from 2% dehydration, we already feel thirst, which becomes unbearable at 3% dehydration. From 5%, dehydration causes difficulty concentrating, headaches and a 20 to 30% loss of sports performance. You must therefore hydrate throughout the day to ensure good body health.
But the amount of water drunk per day is actually only a very small proportion of the amount of water a human being needs each day. Today, according to certain statistics, each French person consumes between 140 and 150 liters of water per day.
In 2014, daily water consumption per capita was approximately 165 liters. This drop in water consumption observed over several years can be mainly explained by the increase in the price of water. From this quantity of water consumed:
- 39% are dedicated to personal hygiene;
- 20% for toilets (use of flushing toilet, brushing teeth, etc.);
- 12% is used for laundry;
- 12% for maintenance and cleaning work (housing, garden watering, car washing, etc.);
- 10% for dishes;
- 6% for cooking;
- 1% for the drink.
Given all these uses, we can imagine that a water shortage would be a real disaster and that it 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 real luxury.
Water, an inexhaustible resource?
According to several studies, every second, the planet consumes 1.3 million liters of water, a figure which exceeds the capacity to renew the planet's water reserves or water stocks.
Water resources are therefore not inexhaustible. Abundant, yes. Inexhaustible, no. Indeed, the water we drink comes 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 safe drinking water at home. If water is life, unsafe water has proven to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide, because millions of people are still forced to consume unsafe water today. .
Having become a public health issue, the competent authorities are taking all necessary measures to ensure that the distribution water is drinkable. Despite everything, in certain circumstances it happens that incidents occur on the distribution networks. 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 limescale.
These types of events push consumers to question the quality of the water they consume daily through the tap and, if necessary, to look for alternatives.
Bottled water to compensate for the shortcomings of network water?
Since network water is not always safe, a large part of the population prefers to turn to bottled water, which is considered healthier. Thus, the bottled water industry achieves an annual turnover of nearly 30,000 billion dollars and each year we see an increase of 12%.
These are impressive figures, especially when we know the number of non-renewable resources that this involves. Like oil and natural gas, which are used to transform the 1.5 million tonnes of plastic into bottles. We must add to this these tons of plastic bottles, which should be recycled but which practically never are, thus polluting the Earth a little more each time.
Furthermore, what about the greenhouse gases emitted into nature during the transport of water bottles from one country to another? Around 25% of the 90 billion liters of water bottled each year are exported outside the country of origin. In short, bottled water may make you feel healthier, but when you think about it, you lose a lot more than you gain.
Rather than investing in bottled water and therefore participating in this ecological massacre, we need to find other alternatives in order to use the water available to us in a more intelligent way.
Why filter the water available to us?
We're 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, this allows us to drink healthy and pure water without particles.
Indeed, healthy and pure water is:
- Water free of parasitic micro-organisms, pathogenic germs, etc. ;
- Water free of dangerous chemical substances (hydrocarbons, heavy metals, nitrates, etc.);
- Water containing mineral salts (calcium, chlorine, potassium, magnesium, etc.);
- Water containing trace elements (zinc, manganese, fluorine, etc.).
It is important to note that tap water is not always pure and healthy water. In fact, 62% of this water comes from the groundwater table and 38% from surface water. It undergoes antibacterial treatments in factories then it is stored in water towers before being redistributed into your pipes.
Due to the deterioration of the condition 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 water from the network, make it healthier and rid it of its chlorine taste as well as this odor that we sometimes smell too strongly.
On the other hand, the water can be loaded with limescale. Without a water filter, the limescale contained in the water flowing into our kitchens can degrade the flavor and nutritional quality of the foods we consume. Over time, this same limestone can promote the formation of scale, accumulating in our sanitary appliances and pipes, thus accelerating their wear and reducing their lifespan.
In this context, with 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.
