by Gene Franks

I gave Claude, the AI Wizard, three examples of water fact items written by Gazette Numerical Wizard B. Sharper and requested 25 more in the Sharper’s Index style. In around 4 seconds, they were ready. Claude warned that these should be verified and taken with a grain of salt, since facts can change and what’s true today may not be true tomorrow. Here are Claude’s water facts.

Percentage of Earth’s surface covered by water: about 71.

Share of all the water on Earth that is fresh: roughly 2.5 percent.

Number of people worldwide who lack access to safely managed drinking water, according to the WHO and UNICEF: about 2.2 billion.

Hours spent every day by women and girls around the world collecting water, according to the United Nations: 200 million.

Year the UN General Assembly recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right: 2010.

Year Congress passed the Clean Water Act: 1972.

Year Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act: 1974.

Last year the polluted Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire: 1969.

Year the city of Flint, Michigan, switched its water source to the Flint River: 2014.

Percentage of the human body that is water, depending on age and sex: up to 60.

Share of global freshwater withdrawals used for agriculture: about 70 percent.

Gallons of water it takes to produce one pound of beef, by a commonly cited estimate: roughly 1,800.

Gallons of water it takes to produce a single cotton T-shirt, according to the World Wildlife Fund: about 700.

Gallons of water an average American uses at home each day, according to the EPA: roughly 82.

Gallons of water used by a typical 8-minute shower, according to the EPA: about 17.

Gallons of water per flush used by a WaterSense-labeled toilet: 1.28 or less.

Gallons wasted per year by a faucet that drips once per second: more than 3,000.

Miles of pipe in the American drinking water system, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers: about 2.2 million.

Water main breaks in the United States each year, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers: roughly 240,000.

Gallons of treated water lost every day in the United States to leaking pipes: about 6 billion.

Share of the world’s unfrozen surface freshwater held by Russia’s Lake Baikal: about 20 percent.

Share of the world’s freshwater locked up in glaciers and ice caps: nearly 69 percent.

Gallons of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool: roughly 660,000.