12 Facts About Groundwater

Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations.

Groundwater is often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells.

Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults.

Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water.

Groundwater is fresh water located in the subsurface pore space of soil and rocks.

Groundwater can be thought of in the same terms as surface water: inputs, outputs and storage.

Groundwater makes up about thirty percent of the world's fresh water supply, which is about 0.

Groundwater is naturally replenished by surface water from precipitation, streams, and rivers when this recharge reaches the water table.

Groundwater can be a long-term 'reservoir' of the natural water cycle, as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like the atmosphere and fresh surface water .

Groundwater is the most accessed source of freshwater around the world, including as drinking water, irrigation, and manufacturing.

Groundwater feeds soil moisture through percolation, and many terrestrial vegetation communities depend directly on either groundwater or the percolated soil moisture above the aquifer for at least part of each year.

Groundwater is an important water resource for the supply of drinking water, especially in arid countries.