Aqua Ultraviolet

           When astronauts first looked at our blue planet from space, they were amazed by how dramatic the difference between land and water was on the Earth’s surface. Seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Unfortunately, all the water the earth is ever going to get is already here on Earth.  Water is a finite resource, meaning we will never get more water on Earth then we have now.

           Only a small percentage of the Earth’s water can be consumed by humans. We can only drink fresh water, which is very rare in liquid form, and only occurs after going through the water cycle. The water cycle is a naturally occurring cycle in the Earths atmosphere.

           This process happens in three simplified steps. Water from lakes, rivers and the ocean are evaporated by the sun, creating water vapor. The water vapor rises, collects, and cools in a process called condensation. This step in the process makes clouds. Eventually when enough water is collected, it rains. The water pools, and the cycle begins again.

            Since this process depends on the collection of water vapor, the water vapor needs to be able to get into the atmosphere. When we throw out a bottle of water with a few drops left in it, the water will not return to the water cycle for several hundred years at best, until the container the water is in degrades, releasing the water. At worst it could take up to 1,000 years for the plastic bottle to decompose in a landfill.

            One twelve ounce bottle of water has 7,200 drops of water in it. If water bottles were thrown out with just one drop of water in it, humans would have prevented 7.4 million gallons of water from returning back into the atmosphere in 2008 alone. To get an image of how much water that is, an Olympic swimming pool contains 660,000 gallons of water. We have wasted 11 Olympic swimming pools worth of water by drinking bottled water. The average hot tub is full at 400 gallons. With the amount of water wasted, you could fill 18,444 hot tubs. These statistics do not take into account the amount of water bottles that are thrown out half full or mostly full such as after a party or if your bottle of water becomes warm. When you include the percentage of bottles in landfills with a substantial amount of water in them, the numbers increase dramatically. The United States alone has wasted at least 8,679,705 Gallons worth of drips from bottled water between 2000 and 2008. We are partially to blame for droughts around the world, by preventing this water from reaching the water cycle and having our reservoirs being replenished.

            Bottled water is also contributing to global warming. The resources it takes to make a plastic bottle are enormous. Just to make the plastic for the water bottles, it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil annually. This is enough oil to run 100,000 cars for a year. It takes even more oil to transport the full bottles of water all over the world. Seven percent of the United States oil consumption is used on making new plastic bottles. One recent statistic shows that for one 1 liter bottle of water, it takes 5 liters of water to produce the plastic bottles. If you were to line all the empty plastic bottles that are thrown in the trash end to end, it would only take three days for them to stretch around the world. It would only take a month’s worth of discarded plastic bottles to reach the moon.

            When we drink from water bottles, we harm the environment in many ways, but by preventing our most valuable commodity, water, from replenishing itself is more then just harmful to the environment, it is simply foolish. Water is something that all life has in common. Water is a necessity to every living thing, and to preserve our planet, we need to be more conscientious about how we use it, and where we get it from. Our desire to have bottled water instead of using the water in our homes has contributed to the growing shortage of so many resources.

            By installing an Aqua Ultraviolet Life Plus System, for your home, you can get the premium taste of filtered, UV purified bottled water from your tap. A gallon of bottled water can sometimes cost 10,000 times more then a gallon of water that comes out of your tap. By using a refillable bottle to transport your pure water with you while you are on the go, you can reduce the amount of water being prevented from reaching the water cycle. We can not get the water back that is trapped in landfills, but we can prevent more water from being taken out of the cycle. With Aqua Ultraviolet’s Life Plus System, you can put water back into the water cycle, one drip at a time. You can reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere by drinking your own purified, filtered water from your local water source. For more information on the Life Plus System or other Aqua Ultraviolet products, call Aqua Ultraviolet at 800-454-2725 or visit us online at www.aquauv.com . And please, if you do choose to continue to drink bottled water, please dump out your bottles before you recycle them or throw them in the trash. We need to make sure all the water we have is accessible.

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