Explain water Universal Solvent ?

Water - Universal Solvent :  Water is usually referred to as the "universal solvent." because it is able to dissolve many different substances, in large quantities.

Water acts as a particularly effective solvent because it is a polar molecule. Recall that a polar molecule has two oppositely charged poles. So, as solvents, water molecules can be attracted to an ionic solid in the following way: positive ions will attract and be surrounded by the negative poles of water molecules, in effect isolating them from the negative ions of a solid. The negative ions of a solid, on the other hand, will attract and be surrounded by the positive poles of other water molecules, forming an isolating barrier as well. This process is referred to as hydration, and the enveloping barriers are called "hydration spheres."

Water also dissociates readily into positively charged hydrogen ( H⁺ ) ions and negatively charged hydroxyl ( OH^-, also called hydroxide) ions. The hydrogen ions immediately recombine with water to form hydronium ions ( H₃O⁺ ). The number of negatively charged ions (OH^- ) and positively charged ions ( H⁺ ) are equal in pure water. Some substances, such as table salt, also ionize in water to form electrically neutral solutions.