It’s practically used for everything; drinking, cooking, cleaning, chemical reactions, generating electricity and the list goes on…but what makes it so suitable for basically everything?
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Water is kind of unique in its structure. The molecules are bent and very polar (high difference in electron density) so the hydrogen atoms are pointing towards the electrons on the oxygen atoms. This is called Hydrogen bonding. Ice is actually less dense then water because of the space between the molecules in the crystal. The hydrogen bonding also gives water its high surface tension.
Hydrogen bonding is why water has a relatively high boiling point compared to other molecules that are a similar size. Methane which has no hydrogen bonding, has a boiling point of -161°C and ammonia, which has weak hydrogen bonding, has a boiling point of -33°C. These molecules are very close in size to water but have vastly different properties. Almost all molecules the size of water are gases at standard atmospheric pressure and temperature.
Also, water is able to dissolve sugars and Saltz due to the hydrogen bonding and high polarity respectively. This is what makes it a good solvent in biological applications.
Interestingly, completely pure water is an electrical insulator. It’s the dissolved salts that make it such a good conductor.
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