10 Ways Water Can Kill You

We drink water every single day and need it to survive, but most of us don't even think about it that much. Most humans don't drink enough water, and we're often reminded of this fact whether it's from social media or friends nagging you to drink more water. It's true that drinking enough water is very important. Water is, after all, vital to our lives, but under certain circumstances, it can be deadly.

The human body is composed of about 60 to 80 percent water, depending on the body size, which widely varies from person to person. Everyone needs to drink between one and four liters of water a day, and you need to drink even more in extremely hot conditions, just to survive. But while water is essential to human life, water can also be the end of it. Since water is so important to our lives, we might not think about the fact that it could be dangerous. Here are 10 ways water is not a friend to your continued existence.

1. Hypothermia.

The human body spends most of its time in a "thermoneutral zone," generating temperatures of 36.5°C and 37.5°C (about 98-99°F). When the core temperature falls below this narrow zone, though, the body can burn between 40 and 60 calories an hour to bring it back to normal. Those 40 to 60 calories, however, are just enough to raise the temperature of a mere 40 to 60 grams of water just 1°C.

When the body is plunged into massive amounts of cold water, it simply cannot generate enough heat, and as the body's temperature passes 33°C (about 90°F) the brain cannot function properly, and at about 21°C (70°F) there is death. Cold water kills, and sometimes kills in minutes.

2. Avalanche.

An avalanche is the massive sliding of water frozen as snow and ice down a mountainous incline. About 1 in 6 people who dies in an avalanche succumbs to crushing injuries caused by the weight of snow, but about 5 in 6 die of suffocation. If you are caught in an avalanche, lift your arms over your head, turning your face away from the snowslide, to create an air pocket in which you may survive until help arrives. Don't try digging your way out unless you know you are at the surface, digging uses limited oxygen supplies.

3. Waterborne pathogens.

Worldwide, nearly 2 million people a year die of waterborne diseases, ranging from cholera, the waterborne diarrhea which has killed millions of people over centuries, to fecal E. coli, viruses, and parasites. Millions of people also die from the cumulative effects of exposure to chemical contaminants of water, especially arsenic, which is a particular problem in South Asia and the Southwestern United States.

4. Holding your urine in (well, sort of).

It is possible to die of uremic poisoning caused by accumulation of toxins that accumulate in the kidneys. This can occur when the kidneys  or the urethra, the channel that carries urine outside the body, are blocked by a kidney stone. However, it's not possible to kill yourself by holding in your urine so you don't go to the bathroom. The sphincters on your urethra would fail first, causing you to wet yourself. Violent release of urine is possible when people try to hold it in, some people lasting longer than others.

Read More: Brain-Eating Amoeba Due To Stagnant Water, CDC Says

5. Dangerous driving conditions.

Unsafe drivers and unsafe vehicles cause some fatal auto crashes, but the majority of unsafe driving conditions are linked to accumulations of water, whether frozen, liquid, or fog. It's the unexpected, "minor" effects of water that are the most dangerous. Just a few drops of drizzle after a long drought can loosen oils and grease on pavement that make it slick as ice. Or a shift in elevation along the roadway can bring drivers out of sunny weather into fog with zero visibility, putting them at great risk for collision with other drivers on the road. A poorly drained road can accumulate big pools of shallow water that don't seem dangerous until drivers lose control as their cars hydroplane. Sometimes sudden loss of visibility during a rainstorm, especially in tropical and subtropical locations,  is the cause of an accident--every year over 3,000 drivers die during rain-related crashes in the United States.

More Ways Water Can Kill You

6. Electrocution.

Pure water does not conduct electricity, but fresh water with minerals in it and even moreso salt water are excellent conductors of electrical charge from lightning or fallen power lines. The conductive properties of water are so great that one might not even see the lightning flash that produces the current that causes death on contact in water. 

What can you do to avoid electrocution in water? Get out of it at the first sign of lightning! And never step into water around fallen power lines unless you know the electricity has been turned off.

7. Chinese water torture.

Chinese water torture is the slow dripping of water on a person's forehead, intended to drive its victim insane. Actually invented in Italy, rather than in China, Chinese water torture was first used by Hippolytus de Marsili in 1451. He gave this method of torture the name "Chinese" to make it seem more terrifying to its victims. During the Spanish Inquisition, victims were strapped down so they could not move and warm water dripped on their heads, most of them coming to believe that the water had hollowed out their foreheads.

8. Scalding.

Up until the middle of the twentieth century, many nations of Europe and Asia executed criminals and prisoners of war by scalding, immersing their bodies in pots of boiling water until fourth-degree burns caused the flesh to come off their bones. The skin is destroyed, exposing the fat, which dissolves in the boiling water.

Accidental deaths by scalding still occur. Most scalding deaths occur to infants accidentally lowered into hot water in a sink for purposes of bathing. A water temperature of just 60 °C (140°F) can cause death.

9. Tsunami.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 killed at least 250,000 and possibly as many as 10,000,000 people. Other tsunamis throughout history cumulatively have killed tens of millions of people after powerful earthquakes sometimes on the other side of the ocean. The greatest tsunami in history occurred in Alaska's Latuya Bay in 1958. A landslide caused a wave over 1700 feet (500 meters) tall, which, amazingly, one boat survived.

Read More: What Plain Old Water Can Do For Your Health

10. Water poisoning.

Most adults need at least a liter (1 quart) of water, on a regular basis, to avoid death by dehydration. But drinking as much as 10 to 20 liters (2-1/2 to 5 gallons) of water can cause death through a process called dilutional hyponatremia, greatly reducing the concentration of sodium ions in the bloodstream. Every cell in the human body has to absorb positively charged sodium ions every time it takes in negatively charged oxygen, glucose, amino acids, or regulatory compounds. When there is not enough sodium in the bloodstream, cells are literally starved for oxygen and glucose. Some tissues of the body may expand, especially in the brain, and the pressure against bone and ligaments may crush them. They release potassium ions which further reduce the ability of surviving cells to attract the oxygen and nutrients they need. 

Water poisoning was used as a method of execution in some African tribes, but most modern cases occur as fraternity initiation pranks.