Some Interesting Facts About Water

Water Color
'Pure' water is tasteless, odorless and also considered colorless by most people but in actual fact has a very slight turquoise blue hue to it due to the weak absorption of red at that end of the visible color spectrum (what we humans can see as color). That is why in larger quantities it will begin to have a blue tinge to it. It is also why ice bergs will have that beautiful blue color.

Yes a blue sky will also add by reflection a blue color to the oceans and lakes but its not totally responsible for the blue. Consider a pool with a pure white wall and you'll see what I mean. Or fill a pure white 5 gallon pale with lake water or even just tap water and you'll notice a slight blue hue.

Still doubtful? The next time you go to the grocery store pick up a gallon of bottled water in a clear jug (even distilled water) and hold it up to the light. It will be faint with just a gallon but it will be there.

Water chemistry
A water molecule is made up of one oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms attached via the sharing of electrons.

An electrical conductor
Most people think that all water is a great conductor of electricity. But 'distilled' water actually makes a poor conductor and this is because it has few 'ions' present.

An ion is any molecule in which the electrons and protons are not equal in number, giving the molecule or atom a negative (more electrons) or a positive (more protons) charge. But even distilled water will have 'some' free forming ions and so is a 'poor' conductor rather than a 'non' conductor.

One of the interesting facts about water is that in order for it to conduct electricity it needs to have minerals present. Almost all unfiltered water will be at some level ionic mineral water. The electricity is actually traveling through the water via the freed ions from these minerals when they become submerged in the water.

By passing an electrical current through water the hydrogen and oxygen elements of the water molecule can be separated. This is called electrolysis.

Ice
There are many interesting facts about water but one of the most interesting to me is ice and how it forms.

The freezing point of pure or fresh water is at 0 degrees Celsius. However the oceans waters on average begin to freeze at about 2 degrees Celsius lower than fresh water due to the salt content, but most everything else is the same between fresh water and salt water with regard to ice forming.

I find the facts about water ice interesting because the way it forms actually allows sea and lake creatures to live quite comfortably under the ice.

Most liquids when 'frozen' will sink to the bottom if placed in a vat of its 'liquid' form. Water on the other hand has a unique characteristic of reaching its densest point at 4 degrees Celsius, but any lower and it begins to become 'less' dense and starts to rise to the surface. The water at the bottom of a frozen fresh water lake will always be around 4 degrees Celsius. The bottom of the frozen Arctic will be around 2 degrees Celsius due to the salt content forcing the freezing temperature lower.

Of course the ice formed on top of fresh water is…well, fresh. However, did you know that the ice formed on top of the oceans is also very nearly fresh? This is because the salt is 'pushed out' as the water begins to freeze. This action actually adds to the salinity of the 'unfrozen' part of the oceans beneath the ice.

Where is the Water?
97 percent of earths water is in the oceans. Only 3 percent is fresh. Of that 3 percent nearly 69 percent is locked in glaciers and the icecaps and 30 percent is ground water. That leaves only 1 percent as surface water!

Still further on facts about water is... of that 1 percent about 87 percent is fresh lake water, 11 percent is found in swamps and the remaining 2 percent is in rivers.

Better take care of our fresh water supply. So much water and such a tiny a portion for our daily water intake!

Our bodies metabolism
Metabolism is the chemical reactions (either Catabolism or Anabolism) that occur in our bodies and in all living things that keeps us living. Without water present this cannot happen. In fact this metabolism is so well recognized by the nutrition industry that it is often recommended to drink water to lose weight. Enzymes act as catalysts to speed up the chemical changes (metabolism) by using the ions of the water molecules to perform either Catabolism (the breaking down of large molecules into smaller ones thus 'releasing' energy) or Anabolism (the building up of larger molecules from smaller ones thus 'using' energy).

Water pH level
More facts about water is the central role it plays to plants and living organisms in the cycle of photosynthesis (end result of plants giving off oxygen) and respiration (end result of living organisms giving off carbon dioxide).

The pH (potential of hydrogen) level of the water involved plays a large role in the enzyme function for either photosynthesis or respiration. The pH scale is set at 0 to 14 with numbers lower than 7 said to be acidic and numbers higher than 7 said to be basic (alkaline).

Most water found in nature is just slightly above the neutral number 7. In other words just slightly on the alkaline side of the pH scale.