We need water!

On How Stuff Works, I asked, How much water is there on the earth?

There’s a whole lot of water on Earth! Something like 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (326 million trillion gallons) of the stuff (roughly 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters) can be found on our planet.

I wanted to know how much water makes up our bodies. At Wikipedia, I found out that:

In medicine, body water is 90 to 94 percent of the water content of the human body. A significant fraction of the human body is water.

The University of Arkansas provided this summary about the importance of water:

You can live as long as six weeks without food, but you couldn’t survive more than a week without water. Water or fluids that contain water fill virtually every cell and the spaces between them in the body. Water accounts for approximately 60 to 70 percent of the total body weight in a normal adult, making it the most abundant constituent of the human body. In terms of volume, the total body water in a man of average weight (70 kg or 154 lbs) is roughly 40 L (10.6 gallons).

Of course, as with any science, they differ with the previous amount that makes up our bodies – from 90 – 94 %(which did seem a bit high) to 60 – 70%. I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but between 60 and 94% of our body is made up of water!

Author note: The University of Arkansas article, Water-Drink Up is excellent info on the importance of water – during all of this heat, please read this and be careful!

aT A yAHOO Answer spot, I got this wonderful breakdown of our body’s make up!

Here is a summary of the common molecules found in humans:

Molecule……….Mass %…Molecule %
Water…………….65% ………98.73 %
Other Inorganic…1.5% …..0.74 %
Lipid………………12% ……….0.475 %
Other Organic….0.4% …….0.044 %
Protein…………..20% ……….0.011 %
RNA………………1.0% …….3 x 10-5 %
DNA………………0.1% …….3 x 10-11 %

By weight, we are 65% water, 20% protein, 12% fats, and a few incidentals on top of that. By number of molecules, we are pretty much entirely water.

Of course there’s individual variation, but the bigger factor is exactly what you are counting and how – by molecule count, there’s less than 2% difference between a person and a glass of water!

Symptoms of Dehydration –

Dehydration symptoms generally become noticeable after 2% of one’s normal water volume has been lost. Initially, one experiences thirst and discomfort, possibly along with loss of appetite and dry skin. This can be followed by constipation. Athletes may suffer a loss of performance of up to 30%^[6] and experience flushing, low endurance, rapid heart rates, elevated body temperatures, and rapid onset of fatigue.

I did find the seriousness of dehydration.

Untreated severe dehydration may result in seizures, permanent brain damage, or death.

WATER = LIFE

It is nice that there are many, many places that will tell you how much water you need to drink, and most of them are selling water filters! The point? Clean water is BEST!

On the Clean Water Blog, there is a summary of the historical effects on water.

For Homeschoolers!!!Exploring the Environment has a quick read on the importance of clean water, and may have study unit of the hydrosphere.

Many of the world organizations, and the missionary organizations go in to a place, and the first thing is to provide drinking water. Even one of our favorite charities, Compassion, has a program to provide clean water, and many articles about how clean water has ministered to the communities in which Compassion serves.

WATER = LIFE

There is so much to write about, when writing about water.  Importance, cleanliness, wonderful aspects, and the ability to take it for granted.

I have been VERY guilty of taking water for granted.

A few years ago, I became electrolyte imbalanced because of performing a practice sprint Triathlon. I didn’t do it for time, I did it for completion so I had time to take care of things.   I was maintaining track of my blood glucose.  I was drinking  1- 20 oz. G2 between each event in an attempt to replace electrolytes and water.  Apparently, something got messed up, because after completing this mini triathlonI just wasn’t ‘right’.  Because we didn’t know the dangers of a diabetic over exerting in exercise, and the ease at which electrolytes can be washed out of a system…I crashed.  The beautiful water that was sustaining me had poured out of my pores, and pulled potassium, calcium, phosphorus and other important elements out of my system.  I became suicidally depressed and almost lost my life. I spent several days in ICU with IV electrolytes and bags of water being pumped into my body.

WATER = LIFE

 

Compassion International – Water of Life from Compassion International on Vimeo.

 
This will be a multi part post….This is the importance of water. And, if YOU have access to clean water, Thank God, and Praise Him! And consider helping someone else who does not.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

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Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!