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IT IS INTERESTING TO KNOW
Does Water Have Taste?
Water in one, place certainly tastes
different from water in another place, and
there isn't a person alive who hasn't said,
"This water tastes good." But water is not
only colorless and odorless, it's really
tasteless too!
That is, pure water is tasteless. But
you've probably never tasted pure water
in your life. All water in nature contains
other substances, such as minerals, gases,
and bacteria.
Minerals, mostly salt, account for
about 3Vz percent of the weight of sea
water. Rainfall is much purer, but
contains molecules of gases such as
oxygen and carbon dioxide. Drinking
water usually contains gases and
minerals, and it is these substances, and
not the water itself, that give water its
"taste."
Where Is the Wettest Place on Earth?
The average city in the United
States might receive 25 to 45 inches of
rain in a year. New York receives
about 43 inches, and Dallas about 32
inches. But a mountainous region on
the island of Kauai, in Hawaii, receives
460 inches of rain in an average year.
In Kauai, the wettest place on earth, it
sometimes rains 350 days out of the
year!
Though Kauai has the highest
average rainfall, other places on earth
have received more than 460 inches of
rain in a year. In Cherrapunji, India, it
rained so hard in 1861 that the rainfall
totaled more than 1,042 inches —
that's about 87 feet!
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