Groundwater
Basics
What
is Groundwater?
Groundwater
is water that comes from the ground. Sounds easy,
doesn't it? Amazingly, many people use groundwater
but don't even know it. In fact, half of everyone in
the United States drinks groundwater everyday!
Groundwater is even used to irrigate crops which grow food
for tonight's dinner.
Where
does ground water come from? Groundwater comes from rain,
snow, sleet, and hail that soaks into the ground.
The water moves down into the ground because of gravity,
passing between particles of soil, sand, gravel, or rock
until it reaches a depth where the ground is filled, or saturated, with water. The area that is filled with
water is called the saturation zone and the top of this
zone is called the water table. Makes sense, doesn't
it? The top of the water is a table! The water
table may be very near the ground's surface or it may be
hundreds of feet below.
Think
about this: have you ever dug a hole in sand next to
an ocean or lake? What happens? As you're
digging, you eventually reach water, right? That
water is groundwater. The water in lakes, rivers, or
oceans is called surface water... it's on the
surface. Groundwater and surface water sometimes
trade places. Groundwater can move through the
ground into a lake or stream. Water in a lake can
soak down into the ground and become groundwater.
Groundwater
is stored in the ground in materials like gravel or
sand. It's kind of like the earth is a big sponge
holding all that water. Water can also move through
rock formations like sandstone or through cracks in
rocks. An area that holds a lot of water, which can
be pumped up with a well, is called an aquifer.
Wells pump groundwater from the aquifer and then pipes
deliver the water to cities, houses in the country, or to
crops.
Most groundwater
is clean, but groundwater can become polluted, or
contaminated. It can become polluted from leaky
underground tanks that store gasoline, leaky landfills, or
when people apply too much fertilizer or pesticides on
their fields or lawns. When pollutants leak, spill,
or are carelessly dumped on the ground they can move
through the soil. Because it is deep in the ground,
groundwater pollution is generally difficult and expensive
to clean up. Sometimes people have to find new
places to dig a well because their own became
contaminated.
Some
Questions to Ask a Parent, Grandparent, or Teacher:
1.
Where does our water come from?
2.
How does it get to our house?
3.
Has our water even been polluted? If yes, what was
the cause?
If adult's
don't know the answer, call or write a letter to your city
water company or mayor's office. If you have a well
near your home, locate it and talk to your parents or
other adults about keeping pollution away from it.
Top
Groundwater
and the Water Cycle
Now
that you have learned about the exciting world of
groundwater, it is time to see how it fits into that
endless watery process called the water
cycle. The
water cycle, also known as the hydrologic
cycle, begins
when water from the earth's soil, plants, and water bodies
turns into water vapor through the process of evaporation. This invisible vapor, most of which
comes from the world's oceans, travels up into the
atmosphere and condenses, forming clouds. This is
called condensation. The vapors in the clouds
condense more and more until they form water
droplets. More and more water vapor combines with
the water droplet until it is too heavy to stay in the sky
any longer. The water falls to the earth far below
as precipitation. Examples of precipitation include
rain, hail, sleet, and snow.
When
the water reaches the earth's surface, some of it will
flow along the surface of the earth as runoff while the
rest of it soaks into the soil--called recharge.
Down, down, down the water goes through the soil until it
becomes groundwater and is stored in the aquifer
below. Once the water has joined the aquifer, it
doesn't stop there. The groundwater slowly moves
through spaces and cracks between the soil particles on
its journey to lower elevations. This movement of
water underground is called groundwater
flow.
Eventually, after years of underground movement, the
groundwater comes to a discharge area where it enters a
lake or stream. There, the water will once again be
evaporated and begin the cycle again. Water has been
transported through the water cycle for millions of years
and will continue this cycle forever.
Top
Groundwater
Protection: Kid Style
Even
with all of the contamination threats to groundwater, it
CAN be protected by kids just like you who care about the
water they drink. Here are a few ideas to get you
started.
| 1. |
Investigate your
home for products (paints, cleaners, etc.) that
could contaminate the groundwater if they were
poured down the drain or dumped on the ground
outside. Mark all these containers as
dangerous so family members will be aware to use
these products wisely, or set them aside for
donation at the next "household hazardous waste
collection day" in your community (see idea
number four). |
|
|
| 2. |
Tell others about
how hazardous products can contaminate the
groundwater when thrown into the trash.
Instead of pouring chemicals down the drain, use
them up so there is only a container
remaining. Recycle the container of possible. |
|
| 3. |
Begin using
environmentally friendly products instead of
hazardous ones. Visit your local library or
bookstore to find recipes for homemade cleaners
using harmless ingredients like vinegar and baking
soda. |
|
| 4. |
Encourage your
local health department to sponsor a hazardous waste
collection day in your neighborhood. These
types of events allow community members to bring in
their old paint, motor oil and harmful chemicals to
have them disposed of properly. Assist in
promoting the event by volunteering to stuff mailers
or post signs. |
|
| 5. |
Design a series of
posters to hang in your community that display
educational messages about groundwater
protection. Ask a local grocery store,
library, school, or department store to display
them. |
|
| 6. |
Team up with your
teacher and classmates and complete a community
service project or host a school-wide groundwater
education day. |
|
| 7. |
Remember, every
little thing you do DOES make a difference! |
Top
Easy
Ways to Conserve Water
Don't
let it run. We have all developed the bad habit
of letting the faucet run while we brush our teeth or wait
for a cold glass of water. Keeping a pitcher of
water in the refrigerator or turning the faucet off while
we brush our teeth can save several gallons of water each
day! It's simple really, before you turn on the tap,
think of ways you can use less water to accomplish the
same purpose.
Fix the
drip. There is no such thing as a little
drip. A leaky faucet with a drip of just 1/16 of an
inch in diameter (about this big -o-) can waste 10 gallons
of water every day. You can turn off that drip by
replacing worn washers or valve seats with the help of your
parents.
The silent
leak. Even worse than the careless hand on the
faucet is the silent toilet bowl leak, probably the single
greatest water waster in homes. A leak of 1 gallon
every 24 minutes - an average amount - totals 2.5 gallons
per hour or 60 gallons per day! To check your toilet
for a leak, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank
and wait. If the color appears in the bowl, then
there's a leak. Often these leaks can be fixed with
a few minor adjustments, cleaning calcium deposits from
the toilet ball in the tank, or by replacing worn valves.
Close
the hose. Letting the garden hose run faster or
longer than necessary while we water the lawn or wash the
car often becomes a careless and wasteful habit. A
1/2 inch garden hose under normal water pressure pours out
more than 600 gallons of water per hour and a 3/4 inch
hose delivers almost 1,900 gallons in the same length of
time. If left on overnight, one garden hose can
easily waste twice as much water as the average family
uses in a month.
Check
the plumbing. Proper maintenance is one of the
most effective water savers. Faucet washers are
inexpensive and take only a few minutes to replace.
At home, check all water taps, hoses, and hose connections
(even those that connect to dishwashers and washing machines)
for leaks. Check the garden hose too - it should be
turned off at the faucet, not just at the nozzle.
Teach
your community. Just as it is important to
conserve water in your own home, it is important to help
our towns and cities save water by teaching others to use
water wisely. In agricultural areas, water may be
saved by using more effective irrigation methods. In
industrial areas, manufacturers can save water by reusing
it and treating industrial wastes. Cities and towns
can save water by eliminating leaks and installing
meters. Waste water can be treated and reused.
As you conserve water at home and in your community, you
will help insure that the water available now continues to
meet the growing water needs of the future.
Top
Groundwater
Vocabulary
|
Aquifer: |
the
geologic formation of sand, soil and gravel where
groundwater is stored. |
|
| Biodegradable: |
capable
of being broken down by living things like
microorganisms and bacteria. |
|
| Compost: |
fertilizing
material consisting of organic, decaying matter. |
|
| Condensation: |
stage
of the water cycle when water transforms from a gas
into a vapor and becomes suspended in the
atmosphere, visually represented by clouds. |
|
| Conservation: |
not
wasting, using something wisely. |
|
| Contamination: |
an impurity
in air, soil or water that can cause harm to human
health or the environment. |
|
| Depletion: |
occurs
when water is used faster than it is replaced; can
cause a shortage. |
|
| Discharge: |
to
expel; water that naturally moves from an aquifer to
a surface stream or lake. |
|
| Drought: |
an
extended period of dry weather. |
|
| Evaporation: |
stage
of the water cycle when water transforms from a
liquid into a gas. |
|
| Fertilizer: |
any
chemical used to improve soil and promote plant
growth. |
|
| Groundwater: |
water
contained under the ground's surface, between
particles of and in the cracks of sand, soil and
gravel; a common source of water for drinking and
irrigation. |
|
| Groundwater
Flow: |
the
movement of groundwater beneath the earth's surface. |
|
| Hazard: |
something
that is dangerous; unsafe. |
|
| Hydrologic
Cycle: |
see
water cycle. |
|
| Infiltration: |
see recharge. |
|
| Irrigation: |
to
supply water to crops, parks, golf courses and
lawns. |
|
| Landfill: |
a low
area of land that is filled in with layers of
garbage and soil. |
|
| Overuse: |
using
more than necessary; wasteful. |
|
| Permeable: |
any
material that allows water to penetrate through. |
|
| Pollution: |
see contamination. |
|
| Precipitation: |
stage
of the water cycle when water vapor molecules become
too large and heavy to remain in the atmosphere and
fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow, sleet,
hail, etc. |
|
| Quality: |
to be
at a high degree of excellence; something that is
good or well done. |
|
| Recharge: |
to
increase the amount of groundwater through
precipitation of surface water that absorbs into the
aquifer, also called infiltration. |
|
| Recycle: |
to
produce a new item from an old item; to reuse parts
of. |
|
| Runoff: |
water
that does not become absorbed by the earth by flows
across the surface of the land into a stream or
lake. |
|
| Saturation
Zone: |
the
area where water fills the spaces between soil, sand
and rock underground. |
|
| Seepage: |
to
leak from. |
|
| Septic
System: |
underground
pipes and tanks that store and dispose of human
waste. |
|
| Storage
Tank: |
container
that store potentially hazardous chemicals above or
below ground. |
|
| Water
Cycle: |
the
never-ending movement of water through the
atmosphere, ground and back again; also called the
hydrologic cycle. |
|
| Water
Table: |
the
top of the saturation zone. |
|
| Well: |
a hole
or shaft drilled into the earth to pump water to the
surface. |
This material was reproduced from
www.groundwater.org
with the permission
of The Groundwater Foundation.
Copyright © 2006 The Groundwater Foundation.
All Rights Reserved.
Fun Stuff
Great Games
