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Canadian Water Facts from Environment Canada
Water Use
- A 5-minute shower with a low-flow shower head uses only 35 litres of water.
- A 5-minute shower with a standard shower head uses 100 litres of water
- A single lawn sprinkler spraying 19 litres per minute uses 50% more water in just one hour than a combination of ten toilet flushes, two 5-minute showers, two dishwasher loads, and a full load of clothes.
- Approximately 10 litres of water is required to manufacture 1 litre of gasoline.
- Approximately 1000 kilograms of water is required to grow 1 kilogram of potatoes.
- Many homes lose more water from leaky taps than they need for cooking and drinking.
- Toilets (while consuming nearly one quarter of our municipal water supply) use over 40% more water than needed.
- Worldwide water withdrawals from water bodies have risen from 250 cubic metres/person/year in 1900 to over 700 cubic metres today.
- During the summer, about half of all treated water is sprayed onto lawns and gardens.
- Water consumption usually drops 18-25% after a water meter is installed.
- Less than 3% of the water produced at a large municipal water treatment plant is used for drinking purposes.
- On average, 14% of municipal piped water is lost in pipeline leaks - up to 30% in some communities.
- The Great Lakes support 45% of Canada's industrial capacity
- The Great Lakes Basin is home to 90% of Ontario's population and 40% of Canada's economic activity
- The Great Lakes support 25% of Canada's agricultural capacity
- The Great Lakes provide drinking water to 8.5 million Canadians
- It is estimated that in 1999, 26.5 million Canadians received central water services
- African and Asian women walk an average of 6 kilometres each trip in order to fetch water
- It is recommended that people drink 2 to 3 litres (about 8 glasses) of fluid every day.
- Approximately 300 litres of water is required to produce 1 kilogram of paper.
- It takes about 215 000 litres of water to produce one metric ton of steel.
- Today, around 3 800 cubic kilometres of fresh water is withdrawn annually from the world's lakes, rivers and aquifers. This is twice the volume extracted 50 years ago
- Residential indoor water use in Canada: toilet - 30%; bathing and showering - 35%; laundry - 20%; kitchen and drinking - 10%; cleaning - 5%.
Our Body
- About 83% of our blood is water. It helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature.
- Each day humans must replace 2.4 litres of water, some through drinking and the rest taken by the body from the foods eaten.
- In the developing countries, 80% of illnesses are water-related.
- More than 5 million people die each year from diseases caused by unsafe drinking water, lack of sanitation and insufficient water for hygiene. In fact, over 2 million deaths occur each year from water-related diarrhea alone.
- You can survive about a month without food, but only 5 to 7 days without water.
Water Cycle
- Freshwater lakes, rivers, and underground aquifers hold only 2.5% of the world's water. By comparison, saltwater oceans and seas contain 97.5% of the world's water supply.
- Of the total world's freshwater supply, about one third is found underground.
- Once evaporated, a water molecule spends about 10 days in the air.
Contaminants
- One litre of oil can contaminate up to 2 million litres of water.
- Acid rain with a pH of 3.6 has 100 times the acidity of normal rain with a pH of 5.6.
- Estimates vary, but it is commonly believed that there are up to 100 000 chemicals in commercial use worldwide.
Sources of Municipal Water - Natural Resources Canada
Across Canada, nearly all of the water used by municipal water systems comes from lakes and river's, the remainder (12% of the total) comes from groundwater. In many places, water is distributed through a series of pipes connected to a municipal water supply system. In smaller centres and in rural areas, it is usually obtained from wells. Water supply systems typically have intake, treatment, storage, and distribution components. Rural residents usually have individual groundwater supplies. Wells must be carefully prepared and maintained to prevent pollution.
In some remote areas, water is
