85 Natural Facts about Water

Segway inventor Dean Kaman has been working on a water purification machine to bring clean water to the parts of the world without it. He designed the new Coca-Cola fountain dispensers in exchange for Coke's support in distributing his machines.

52. A reservoir of water three times the volume of all the oceans has been discovered deep beneath the Earth’s surface.

53. In October 2014, General Motors complained that the newly sourced Flint water supply was causing corrosion at a local engine plant. GM switched back to Detroit's Lake Huron supply, meanwhile, residents complained about the smell and taste of their drinking water, which they were assured was safe

54. When hot water freezes faster than cold water, the effect is called "the Mpemba Effect". It's named after Tanzanian Erasto Mpemba who was originally ridiculed for bringing it up in class after noticing his warmer ice cream mix was freezing before the cooler batch

55. The three gorges dam in China holds back so much water it slows the rotation of the earth slightly.

China is creating a car-free city from scratch: "Great City will be built around a high-rise core housing 80,000 people, entirely walkable, and surrounded by green space." It is designed to use less water, create less waste and generate less carbon dioxide than a normal city.

57. Three teenagers from Tokelau who on a drunken dare, stole a boat and got lost adrift on the Pacific Ocean to be found after 51 days. They had barely any food or water, no clothing, no fishing gear, no life vests, and no first-aid kit.

58. To lose 63 pounds for his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale's daily diet consisted of one can of tuna fish, and/or one apple per day, black coffee, and water.

59. The Amazon River spews so much fresh water into the Atlantic that surface water can be drinkable up to 200 miles from shore

60. In 2006, a middle schooler named Jasmine Roberts won an award for her science project, which found that on average 70% of the ice that comes from fast food restaurants is dirtier than toilet water.

One liter of oil can contaminate one million liters of water. It's important to understand that when you dispose of oil in the sink, it affects a million liters of recyclable water.

62. A single lake (Lake Baikal) holds one-fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh water; more than all the great lakes combined, yet it covers half the area of Lake Michigan. It is both the deepest (1 mile) and oldest (25 million years) lake in the world.

63. Babies have an innate swimming reflex where they hold their breath and slow their heart rate in water until they are 6 months old.

64. In the 1850's the entire city of Chicago was raised 5-10 feet with hydraulic jacks to improve drainage and make room for water and sewer lines, in response to outbreaks of typhoid fever and cholera.

65. Alcatraz was the only federal prison at the time to offer hot-water showers for its inmates. The prison staff reasoned that prisoners acclimated to hot water would not be able to withstand the freezing waters of the San Francisco Bay during an escape attempt.

The new Toyota Mirai is one of the first fuel cell vehicles being sold commercially and uses hydrogen to run while emitting water vapor.

67. Most New York City apartment buildings are six stories tall because the water reservoirs for the city provide just enough pressure to get water six stories up - above that you need a water tank on top of the building.

68. At least 22 million gallons of water is trapped in plastic bottles and thrown into landfills annually in the US alone.

69. The average American golf course consumes around 312,000 gallons of water per day.

70. While Alfred Hitchcock was filming 'The Pleasure Garden', an actress refused to enter the water because she was on her period. It was the first time Hitchcock heard about menstruation, and a cameraman had to explain to him what she meant.

Earthworms do NOT surface to avoid drowning when it rains. Instead, they come to the surface to move overland. Since worms breathe through their skin, the skin must stay wet in order for the oxygen to pass through it. And earthworms can actually survive for several weeks under water.

72. Gin and Tonic were originally created by the British East India Company as a way to get soldiers to have quinine to prevent and treat malaria. Quinine (in tonic) was too bitter. In order to get them to drink the tonic officers added the soldiers' gin rations with sugar, lime, and water.

73. After Hurricane Katrina, Cuba & Venezuela were the first countries to offer assistance, pledging over $1 million, several mobile hospitals, water treatment plants, canned food, bottled water, heating oil, 1,100 doctors and 26.4 metric tons of medicine -but were rejected by the US Government

74. Bill Broyles, the writer for the movie Castaway, chose to deliberately strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Sea of Cortez, to force himself to search for water and food, and obtain his own shelter. During this time, a volleyball washed up on shore.

75. After a woman's lung collapsed on a flight, two doctors performed surgery with the aircraft's medical kit, along with a coat hanger, Sellotape, a knife and fork, a bottle of water, and five-star brandy for disinfectant. The woman felt better after ten minutes.