There are 326 million cubic miles of endless blue ocean occupying the expanse between our 7 continents, making up seventy% of the globe'south surface (Agency of Reclamation, 2017).

With merely 5% of the sea floor having been discovered and mapped, and with the deepest role reaching almost seven miles, water seems to exist every bit abundant as it is ominous.

Still, it wouldn't accept much of the mineral-rich sea to dehydrate a human existence if consumed. The amount of sodium in seawater is much more concentrated than what the torso tin safely process, requiring more water as salt is consumed. Somewhen, decease would come equally a result of dehydration without e'er having the thirst quenched (Bounding main Service).

Of the waters occupying 70% of the globe'due south surface, only iii% is considered freshwater. And most of this freshwater reserve is inaccessible to humans — locked up in polar water ice caps or stored too far underneath the globe's surface to be extracted. Furthermore, much of the freshwater that is attainable has become highly polluted.

This leaves us with roughly 0.4% of the earth's water which is usable and potable to be shared among the 7 billion of its inhabitants (Globe Atlas, 2018).

How Much Water is On Earth?

Image

  • Oceans 97.ii%
  • Ice Caps/Glaciers 2.0%
  • Groundwater 0.62%
  • Freshwater Lakes 0.009%
  • Inland Seas/Salt Lakes 0.008%
  • Atmosphere 0.001%
  • Rivers 0.0001%

And nevertheless, much of this 0.4% is hard to get to. Nigh of it flows through hugger-mugger aquifers which tin be accessed by excavation wells; the residue are institute in rivers and streams which nosotros refer to equally, surface h2o. Much of the global population is hard-stricken having access to such a small percentage of freshwater on the globe's surface (Perlman, 2016).

Image

The United States Geological Survey provides a visual illustration (represented in spheres) as to the corporeality of bachelor water in comparison to the size of the world.

The largest sphere represents all of the water on world (oceans, ice caps, lakes, rivers, groundwater) and has a volume of 332,500,000 cubic miles.

The 2d-largest sphere, with a volume of 2,551,100 cubic miles, represents the earth'southward freshwater supply in liquid form. 99% of the liquid freshwater is groundwater, much of which is far as well deep to be accessible.

The residue of the world'due south freshwater exists in lakes and rivers, represented by the tiniest sphere, with a volume of 22,339 cubic miles (Perlman, 2016).

We utilize

0 billion gallons

of surface water per 24-hour interval

and

0 billion gallons

of groundwater per day

Since surface water is easier to reach, information technology's get the well-nigh common mode for humans to access clean water. Globally, we use about 321 billion gallons of surface water and most 77 billion gallons of groundwater per solar day. Contamination of these h2o supplies is a problem that farther limits availability (Groundwater Association, 2012).

Surface Water

Surface water is any body of water that is on the earth'southward surface: lakes, rivers, streams, and reservoirs. fourscore% of the world's daily water usage comes from surface water and makes up the majority of the water used for irrigation and public supply. Oceans are the world'southward largest source of surface water and make upwards 97% of it, simply due to its high salinity, it is unusable for humans (Postel, 2010).

The earth'due south surface waters travel through a circuitous network of flowing rivers and streams. Rivers can obtain their water from 2 sources: base menstruation and runoff. Base flow is when the river collects its water from water-saturated areas in the ground, adding to its volume. Runoff is when the force of gravity naturally pulls water downhill from higher to lower altitudes. They ordinarily start every bit modest creeks in the mountains, and then gradually merge with larger streams as they menstruum downward, eventually forming large rivers which empty out into the sea.

Groundwater

Groundwater is the water beneath the globe's surface that is at 100% saturation. Anything less than 100% is considered soil mixture. 98% of the globe's freshwater is indeed groundwater and it is almost lx times more plentiful than the surface water. Groundwater travels through holes and cracks in the bedrock. The amount of rock space and the ability for water to travel through it is known as porosity and permeability. Groundwater with loftier porosity and permeability value can travel chop-chop and are known as aquifers. An aquifer with high pressure tin can cause the groundwater level to rise to the surface one time a well has been dug (Groundwater Association, 2012).

The Hydrologic Bicycle

Water takes the form of liquid, gas, and solid and cycles through these in what is known as the world'south hydrologic bike. When water evaporates, liquid molecules become gas molecules every bit they rise through the temper. Condensation begins when the moisture from these gas molecules becomes so great that they fall back to earth in the course of precipitation. Considering the process of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation has essentially "distilled" the water, it is considered clean before it hits the ground. When the precipitation hits the ground, it collects into aquifers, rivers, or lakes, gear up to be used again. Glaciers and icecaps embrace ten% of the world'southward mass and exist primarily in Greenland and Antarctica. They are the storehouses for the world's freshwater.

Water Conflicts Around the World

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There are 263 rivers and countless aquifers worldwide which either cross or demarcate geopolitical boundaries. The Atlas of International Freshwater Agreement states that 90 per centum of the world's countries share these water sources with at least one or two other governing bodies. The atrocities in Darfur are an example of conflict resulting from clean h2o shortages.

• Violence erupts in 1992 over a dispute between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan regarding the contested Tyuyamuyun reservoir. Information technology continues to be a highly disputed water source in the region today (Factbook).

• In 2010, dozens of people were killed in Islamic republic of pakistan's tribal region due to a water dispute which lasted over 2 weeks. According to a senior government official in the Kurram district which borders Afghanistan, the Mangal tribe stopped h2o irrigation on lands belonging to the Tori tribe. In total, 116 people were killed and 165 were injured (CNN, 2010).

• Four farmers were hacked to expiry in northeast Tanzania over the disputed Pangani River Bowl in 2013 (Factbook).

• In 2016, 18 people were killed and 200 more were injured when the Indian Regular army clashed with economic protestors surrounding the highly-contested Munak canal, a water source that supplies New Dehli with 3-fifths of its freshwater supply (Factbook).

• The drought-stricken atmospheric condition of major parts of Somalia ofttimes strength herders to sell more of their livestock than they tin afford to make a living with. This lack of economic stability fuels recruitment entreatment with militant groups such equally Al Shabaab, which provide cash incentives and other benefits to their soldiers. Other illicit activities such as pirating and livestock raiding are seen as reasonable alternatives to the declining stability of beast herding (Factbook).

Change is Needed

Water is finite. The corporeality of water circulating through the globe's hydrologic cycle is the same amount that has been at that place since the earth's beginning, not a driblet more than or less. What has inverse is the number of people living on earth, and thus, the corporeality of drinkable water required for homo sustenance. The Un reports that in the last century alone, h2o consumption has grown at more than than twice the rate of population increment.

70% of the globe is covered in water, still only iii% of it is fresh. Of that iii%, 2.6 of it is locked away in glaciers and polar ice caps. That leaves us with 0.four% of the earth's water, in the form of rivers and hush-hush aquifers, to effort to apply for our consumption and societal evolution. It is no wonder that in developing regions where clean water sources cantankerous national boundaries, it often finds itself in conflict among those trying to secure a means to a healthy living.

With humans being made up of 60% water, our natural instinct might be to fight for it. Only by collaborating to notice ways to access the untapped groundwater beneath u.s., helping to conserve clean water use, and preventing farther pollution of our clean h2o sources, information technology is possible for all peoples to take access to clean water.

Thanks for taking the fourth dimension to read our article on answering the question: what is the percentage of drinkable water on world. We'd love to hear your feedback in the comments department below. If you lot've establish this article to be useful and are interested in learning more, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

References

Bureau of Reclamation. (2017, April x). Water Facts - Worldwide Water. Retrieved from https://www.usbr.gov/mp/arwec/h2o-facts-ww-water-sup.html

CNN. (2010, September). H2o conflict in Pakistan'due south tribal region leaves dozens expressionless. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/19/pakistan.h2o.dispute/

Factbook. (n.d.). Mapping ecology conflicts and cooperation. Retrieved from https://factbook.ecc-platform.org/

Groundwater Association. (2012, September). Information on Earth's water - National Groundwater Clan. Retrieved from http://www.ngwa.org/Fundamentals/teachers/Pages/information-on-globe-water.aspx

National Geographic. (2017, January 27). Competing for Clean Water Has Led to a Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-crisis/

Ocean Service. (north.d.). Can humans drink seawater? Retrieved from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/drinksw.html

Perlman, H. (2016, Dec 2). Where is Earth'due south water? USGS Water-Science School. Retrieved from https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html

Perlman, H. (2016, December 2). How Much Water is on and in the Earth. Retrieved from https://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-book.html

Postel, S. (2010, June). How Much Longer Until Nosotros Run Out of Enough Drinkable Water? Retrieved from https://www.alternet.org/story/147334/how_much_longer_until_we_run_out_of_enough_drinkable_water

Shahan, Z. (2017, October 24). How Much Clean Water is Bachelor for Human Use? Retrieved from https://insteading.com/blog/clean-h2o-human/

Un. (2007). H2o scarcity. Retrieved from http://www.united nations.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml

Earth Atlas. (2018, February 14). What Percentage of the Globe's H2o Is Drinkable? Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/manufactures/what-percentage-of-the-earth-south-h2o-is-drinkable.html

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Jeremiah Castelo

I'm Jeremiah Castelo, the owner of Globe Water Reserve. I'one thousand a writer and researcher with a detail interest in sustainability and rural living, water scarcity, and innovative water purification methods. I utilize my multimedia and communication experience in the NGO and humanitarian fields to bring low-cal to of import topics. My passion is to brainwash others on the reality of the global water crunch and on means to sustain themselves and their families in the midst of it.

Jeremiah Castelo