Natural Sources Of Groundwater

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Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth 's surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. Groundwater, which is in aquifers below the surface of the Earth, is one of the Nation 's most important natural resources. Groundwater is the source of about 33 percent of the water that country and city water departments supply to households and businesses . It provides drinking water for more than 90 percent of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them from a county/city water department or private water company. Some water underlies the Earth 's surface almost everywhere, beneath hills, mountains, plains, and deserts. It is not always accessible, or fresh enough for use without treatment, and it 's sometimes difficult to locate or to measure and describe. This water may occur close to the land surface, as in a marsh, or it may lie many hundreds of feet below the surface, as in some arid areas of the West.

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