Water is one of the most precious resources of Battle Creek and other Michigan communities. Life cannot exist without water. Our human bodies consist largely of water.

Much of the earth's fresh water is located in the Great Lakes. As other regions in North America face water shortages, the Great Lakes is increasingly being regarded as a water source that can supply water to other regions. Just as Saudi Arabia is rich in "black gold" (oil), the Great Lakes region is rich in "clear gold" (water), a commodity much more precious than oil.

"When water chokes you, what are you to drink to wash it down?"
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, VII.2.5

We in the Battle Creek area and throughout Michigan depend on our abundant supplies of fresh water to support our economy and our lifestyle. It is in the best interest of all those living in Battle Creek, in Michigan and in the entire Great Lakes region to conserve and protect our precious water supplies.

Did You Know....?

• 97% of the water on earth is in the oceans.
• Only 3% of the water on earth is freshwater
• About 2.4% of the water on earth is permanently frozen in glaciers and at the polar ice caps.
• About 1/2 of 1 % of the water on earth is groundwater.

"Ho Shih illustrates the meaning by a story taken from the life of Yen-ch'ing. That general, together with his collegue Tu Chung-wei, was surrounded by a vastly superior force of Khitans in the year 945 A.D. The country was bare and desert-like, and the little Chinese force was soon in dire straits for want of water. The wells they bored ran dry, and the men were reduced to squeezing lumps of mud and sucking out the moisture. Their ranks thinned rapidly, until at last Fu Yen-ch'ing exclaimed: 'We are desparate men. Far better to die for our country than to go with fettered hands into captivity!'"
— Lionel Giles, notes on Sun Tzu, The Art of War, VII

• Only about 1/100 of 1% of the water on earth is in the rivers and lakes.
• It takes 39,090 gallons of water to make a new car, including the tires.
• Over 17,000,000 houses use private wells for their drinking water supply.
• A person can live about a month without food, but can live only about 1 week without water

Protecting Our Water

We can protect our water by reducing the pollutants entering our water.

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Last modified: March 02, 2009