One of the most important things for human life is access to clean, potable water. Without water, there is no possible way for humans to survive. We require it for ourselves, for our crops, and for our livestock. Unfortunately, not every person has access to clean water.

Approximately 771+ million people lack basic access to clean water. That’s about 1 out of 10 people on the entire planet. And it’s estimated that people who do have access to water have to spend hundreds of millions of hours carrying water from a distant location.

That shows just how important water is for people’s basic survival, and why everyone should take the time to observe World Water Monitoring Day on September 18th of every year.

The History of World Water Monitoring Day

In 2003, World Water Monitoring Day was established by America’s Clean Water Foundation. The purpose of this holiday is to raise the public’s awareness about water pollution issues and to encourage people to test their local bodies of water. This holiday has been observed in this way ever since and is responsible for people thinking more about the quality of the water they consume and where it comes from.

Some Incredible Facts About Water

Anyone who has read our previous holiday articles knows that we love to dig up facts about the subject of each holiday. We just love to find out things that people might not know about and then share those facts with our readers. With that purpose in mind, we have some incredible facts about water that people might want to read about.

• Just as 75% of a person is made from water, approximately 75% of a tree is made from water.
• Although a person might be able to live a month without food, they won’t be able to survive more than a week without water.
• Although almost three-fourths of the planet is covered in water, approximately 97% of it is salty or undrinkable in some other way.

Observing World Water Monitoring Day

On this day, everyone is encouraged to get water testing kits and test their tap water, or their well water if they’re on a well. People are also encouraged to learn more about the water crisis in the world and find out what they can do to make things better.

For some people, this may mean conserving water or donating to organizations that help conserve water around the world. A lot of people also use the hashtag #WorldWaterMonitoringDay on social media to spread the word about this holiday and to highlight the urgency of the global water crisis.