Water Facts

1. The first municipal water filtration works opened in Paisley, Scotland in 1832.
2. More than 79,000 tons of chlorine are used per year in the United States and Canada to treat water.
3. Of all the earth's water, 97% is salt water found in oceans and seas.
4. Only 1% of the earth's water is available for drinking water. Two percent is currently frozen.
5. About two thirds of the human body is water. Some parts of the body contain more water than others. For example,70% of your skin is water.
6. There are more than 56,000 community water systems providing water to the public in the United States.
7. Public water suppliers process 38 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.
8. Approximately 1 million miles of pipelines and aqueducts carry water in the United States and Canada. That's enough to circle the earth 40 times.
9. About 800,000 water wells are drilled each year in the United States for domestic, farming, commercial, and water testing purposes.
10. Typically, households consume at least 50% of their water by lawn watering. Inside, toilets use the most water, with an average of 27 gallons per person per day.
11. In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that drinking water is safe for human consumption. The Act requires public water systems to monitor and treat drinking water for safety.
12. More than 13 million households get their water from their own private wells and are responsible for treating and pumping the water themselves.
13. Industries released 197 million pounds of toxic chemicals into waterways in 1990.
14. The average daily requirement for fresh water in the United States is about 40 billion gallons a day, with about 300 billion gallons used untreated for agriculture and commercial purposes.
15. You can survive about a month without food, but only 5 to 7 days without water.
16. Each person uses about 100 gallons of water a day at home.
17. The average five-minute shower takes between 15 to 25 gallons of water.
18. You can refill an 8 oz glass of water approximately 15,000 times for the same cost as a six-pack of soda.
19. An automatic dishwasher uses approximately 9 to 12 gallons of water while hand washing dishes can use up to 20 gallons.
20. If every household in America had a faucet that dripped once each second, 928 million gallons of water a day would leak away.
21. A dairy cow must drink four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk.
22. One gallon of water weighs approximately 8½ pounds.
23. One inch of rainfall drops 7,000 gallons, or nearly 30 tons of water, on a 60' x 180' piece of land.
24. 300 million gallons of water are needed to produce a single day's supply of U.S. newsprint.
25. A person should consume 2½ quarts of water per day (from all sources of water, food, etc.) to maintain health.
26. A person can live more than a month without food, but only about a week, depending on conditions, without water.
27. 65% of the human body is water, 75% of the human brain is water.
28. 75% of a chicken, 80% of a pineapple, and 95% of a tomato is water.
29. The first water pipes in the U.S. were made of hollowed-out logs.
30. 352 days - record of consecutive days with no measurable precipitation in Sentinel, AZ (Feb 1901 - Jan 1902).
31. The world's rainiest place is Mt. Wai'ale'ale, Kauai, Hawaii. During an average year, there are only 15 dry days.
32. The water in Lake Tahoe could cover a flat area the size of California 14 inches deep. This amount of water is enough to supply everyone in the U.S. with 50 gallons of water/day for 5 years.
33. Nevada is the driest state in the nation with an average annual rainfall of only about 7 inches.

Facts About Fuel

1. What causes fuel prices to rise and fall? 

There are two main reasons - the cost of crude oil and the cost of refined petrol and diesel on the world market.

Crude oil makes up a significant portion of the cost of fuel. Crude oil is traded in US$ as a commodity on the international market. The market is influenced by a number of factors including global demand, supply, political events and manufacturing capability.

Refineries purchase crude oil on the international market to make it into petrol and diesel. Refined product is also traded on the international market and has its own pricing.

Normally, this market for refined fuel has the biggest influence on what BP pays for fuel. As with crude oil the market moves according to global supply and demand. When the price of refined fuel rises, BP pays more. And when it drops, we pay less.

In summary, a combination of the cost of crude oil and refined products are a significant factor in determining what it costs you to fill your car.

The next most influential factor on the price at the pump is the US/NZ exchange rate, as oil and refined products are sold in US Dollars.

As we have to import almost all of our crude oil, the cost of international shipping also has an effect on the price at the pump.

2. Emissions Trading Scheme - what does it mean for fuel prices?

From Thursday 1 July, 2010, a carbon component has been added to the price of BP fuel across the country to meet the industry’s requirements under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The New Zealand Government implemented the ETS as one of the ways it will meet its Kyoto obligations. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the Government has agreed to limit New Zealand's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the emissions of other "greenhouse gases" into the atmosphere (measured against the CO2 equivalent level).

Under the new law BP NZ, along with other obligated parties in the Liquid Fossil Fuels sector, is required to surrender emissions units (sometimes called carbon credits) to the Government to cover the CO2 equivalent emissions (often referred to as carbon emissions) from products that we import or produce at the refinery.

The level of emissions is calculated using a formula set in Regulations.

Until 31 December 2012 we are only required to surrender one unit for every two tonnes of carbon emissions. We are able to buy the emission units from parties who have them or from the Government, which is offering a fixed price option for carbon credits at NZ$25 per unit. Applying the 1 for 2 surrender obligation, this effectively means NZ$12.50 per tonne of carbon emissions until 31 December 2012.

We have used this amount to determine an initial cent per litre amount for carbon emissions from each product. These cent per litre amounts are outlined in the table below:

Going forward prices will continue to move up and down depending on changes for all the components contributing to the fuel price e.g. product, shipping, exchange rate and carbon emissions.

To calculate the volume of carbon emissions generated by a particular product, go to the calculator below

 

facts about hydrogen [H]

6 Hydrogen (H) Facts

Hydrogen, the most basic of all chemical elements, contains only one proton, 1 electron and no neutorns. Hydrogen is actually the oldest element in the universe, being formed between 3 and 20 minutes after the Big Bang. These, of course, are only a couple of the interesting facts about hydrogen. 1. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe, consisting of about 75% the universe's elemental mass.
2. Elemental hydrogen is actually relatively rare on Earth, and so is produced from hydrocarbons, a chemical compound composed entirely of hydrogen and carbon. This hydrogen is used mostly for the production of gasoline and ammonia.
3. Hydrogen is extreamly flammable and will automatically ignite at a temperature of 560 °C. When burned, hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water (H₂O) and 286 kJ/mol of energy. In a pure hydrogen/oxygen environment the flame produced burns in the ultraviolet color range, meaning you cannot see the flame with your naked eye. This combustion is used to propel the Space Shuttle into space.
4. Hydrogen has three naturally occuring isotopes, all three of them named, and is the only element to have different names in use today. 1H, called protium is the most abundant at more than 99.98%. 2H, named deuterium, thought to be all formed at the Big Bang. 3H, called tritrium, is radioactive, and decays into helium-3 with a half-life of 12.34 years.
5. Hydrogen is essential in the fusion reactions of stars, in both the proton-proton reaction and the CNO cycle. The proton-proton reaction converts hydrogen to helium and is the dominate reaction in stars like our Sun.
6. Hydrogen provided the lift for the first reliable form of air travel, used in the airship invented by Henri Giffard, which evolved into airships (most notibly the Zepplin). This continued through World War I, until May 6th, 1937, the German airship, Hindenburg, burst into flames over New Jersey

Cause of Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is a dangerous infectious disease that is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. It occurs in the sub-tropical and tropical regions of Africa and South America. In 85% of cases the disease is relatively mild and lasts 3-15 days. However, in 15% of cases yellow fever enters a second phase that is fatal approximately 20% of the time. The symptoms during the first stage include; fever, headache, chills, back ache, nausea and/or vomiting. In the second stage fever reoccurs and may be accompanied by jaundice (liver damage), abdominal pain, bleeding of the eyes and mouth and bloody vomit. Let’s take a look at what causes this dangerous illness.
What causes yellow fever?
We already know that yellow fever is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. The most common culprit is the yellow fever mosquito, but other species can also carry the disease. Yellow fever is actually caused by a virus, called the yellow fever virus, that infects the mosquito when it bites an infected person. This virus then replicates inside the mosquito and spreads to the salivary glands, which is then passed onto the next person, or animal, that it bites.
There is no cure for yellow fever and the treatment for the disease is supporting the patient with pain relief and rehydrating where necessary. However, a vaccine is available to prevent people from contracting the disease. It is effective 10 days after injection and offers about 10 years of immunity. Anyone who has been infected by, and subsequently recovered from, the yellow fever virus retains immunity to the virus for life.