How much water is there?

Water covers nearly three-fourths of the Earth's surface and is mostly found in the oceans and seas. That sounds like a lot of water, right? Well, it is, but we can't drink much of it. Since more than 97% of the water on earth is in the form of salt water, only a tiny amount of water is usable as fresh, drinking water. Human beings cannot drink salt water. We need fresh water to survive.

So, just exactly how much fresh water is there? Two percent (2%) of the water on Earth is in the form of frozen fresh water, but it is not usable by human beings. Only about 1% of the total water on Earth is in the form of fresh water that is found in lakes, streams, rivers, soil and underground reservoirs or aquifers. Although this water is usable, most of it is hard to get to and is not easily available to people. That leaves much less than 1% (about 0.34%) available to humans and animals to drink and use. That's like having 100 dollars in the bank but only being able to use 34 cents!