Chad, Jacob, Ethan and Adam dwater-pollution-kids html

Ground Water Simply put, groundwater is moisture that is stored in the earth. It may have started out as rain, snow, hail or sleet that soaked into the ground and saturated the soil. The soil acts kind of like a giant sponge -- the groundwater occupies the spaces between the soil particles. Groundwater is important because we use it for drinking, as well as watering crops. An aquifer is an area that holds a great deal of water. It is easy to pump water from an aquifer for drinking, washing, bathing or watering crops. (See References 1) One of the most important U.S. aquifers is the Ogallala aquifer, which lies beneath 225,000 square miles of land in the Great Plains (see References 4).

Ground water The water beneath our soil is a valuable resource. Groundwater makes up about 98 percent of the usable fresh water on Earth (see References 6). Understanding how we pollute groundwater will help us protect it from contamination and ensure that it will remain available to future generations.

Water Cycle Groundwater is not stationary -- it is part of the water cycle. The water cycle is a continuous loop. The sun drives the water cycle by heating the water in the Earth's oceans. Some of this water evaporates into air and forms into clouds. Clouds generate precipitation. Precipitation that falls onto land becomes surface runoff or soaks into the soil where it replenishes groundwater and aquifers. Some groundwater is close to the surface where it seeps back into lakes, rivers or streams. Other times, springs release groundwater or people pump it out of the ground. Unfortunately, this means that pollution can move through the water cycle, too. (See References 2)

Ground Water Pollution reaches groundwater in several ways. Rainwater and runoff may contact contaminated soil while filtering down into groundwater. Some liquid hazardous substances, like fuel residues, solvents and other chemicals, can filter down through soil and rock and into groundwater as well. Some oily substances don't mix with the water but instead remain pooled on top, acting as a long-term contaminant. (See References 5) Natural substances can contaminate groundwater. Arsenic is a naturally occurring toxic metal that sometimes gets into wells and makes the water unsafe to drink (see References 3).