Groundwater As An Important Freshwater Resource In The World
Freshwater is one of the most important natural resources because it is essential for life and the survival of the living beings. Unlike energy which has many alternative forms, water has no any alternative forms. Most of our earth (70% of the world) is covered with water. Of all the water on Earth, 97 % is in the oceans. Leaves only 3% as freshwater. That means only a little amount is available for fresh water. From country to country and region to region the amount of accessible freshwater varies. In some countries or in some regions have abundant amount of water while many regions have water deficiency. In those regions are where groundwater comes in.
The water that present beneath the Earth's surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations are called as “Groundwater”. The simple definition of the groundwater is that portion of the water beneath the surface of the earth that can be collected with wells, tunnels or drainage galleries or that flows naturally to the earth’s surface via seeps or springs. About 20% of all the freshwater on the Earth is groundwater. Not all underground water is groundwater. If a hole is dug, moist or even saturated soil may be encountered. As long as this water does not seep freely into the hole, however it is not groundwater. True groundwater is reached only when water begins to flow into the hole. Since the air in the hole is at atmospheric pressure if it is to flow freely into the hole. By the same token, the underground water that did not flow into the hole must be at less than atmospheric pressure. Thus, what distinguishes groundwater from the rest of the underground water is that its pressure is greater than atmospheric pressure.
Depths to groundwater may range from 1m or less than 1000m or more. There are also places where groundwater has not been reached at all. Groundwater has been an important water resource throughout the ages.
Today, groundwater is a major source of water for many municipalities and industries and irrigation, suburban homes and farms. Groundwater has been exploited for domestic use, livestock and irrigation since the earliest times. Many millions of people in the rural areas are dependent on groundwater. For many millions more, particularly in sub Saharan Africa, who do not as yet have any form of improved supply, untreated groundwater supplies from protected wells with handpumps are likely to be their best solution for many years to come. It is customary to think of groundwater as being more important in arid or semi-arid areas and surface water as more important in humid areas. However, inventories of groundwater and surface water use reveal the worldwide importance of groundwater.
Groundwater is very important to these parts of the world; it is used for farming and drinking in these areas. Groundwater helps these areas tremendously and has to be used in normal quantities as they are liable to run out which causes many problems such as sinkholes, human displacement, and for soil to be totally drained of water useless for agricultural purposes. Even though tapping aquifers is a very practical idea it has some set backs as it can have disastrous effects if polluted or over used. Groundwater originates as water or melting snow that seeps into the soil and finds it's way down through cracks and spaces in rock until it is stopped by a impermeable layer of rock, where it forms as groundwater. The porous layers of underground rock in which the groundwater is stored are called aquifers. These aquifers can either be confined or unconfined. The aquifers that are replaced by surface water directly above them are called unconfined.
Freshwater is essential to the health of our environment and needs to be preserved and protected. Life requires water to sustain it, yet our supplies are being contaminated by toxins. Water is vital to good health since it helps digest and absorb food and also helps maintain proper muscle tone, supplies sufficient oxygen and nutrients to the cells, get rid of body wastes, and serves as a natural air conditioning system. An average person should drink at least eight glasses of clean water every singe day to be in good health. If a person drank saltwater, they would eventually die because the cells in their body will dehydrate when they try to get rid of the excess salt from the water. Freshwater contains less than 0. 2% of dissolved salts.
If we consider about nutrition, the large amount of elements that we need in our daily basis are called “Major elements” and the elements that we need occasionally are called “Trace elements”. Water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock. The simplest definition of groundwater is that it is water that is underground. Of all the fresh water on Earth, about 20% is groundwater. As water seeps into the ground, it continues downward due to gravity until the surrounding ground is saturated with water.
