Water Sources 

Our drinking water comes from either surface, ground or rain water.

​

Surface water refers to any flowing bodies of water, including lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, or ocean and is generally refilled via precipitation. Surface water is more easily accessible than groundwater, but is not usually a good source of drinking water, due to the high levels of contaminants which get into the open water source. Therefore, surface water usually should be treated and filtered before it is safe to drink. However, surface water bodies are very important renewable resources and are huge storehouses of freshwater. 

​

Groundwater, on the other hand, is a part of the natural water cycle, where water continuously moves within the Earth and the atmosphere. Liquid water flows across land, enters the ground, taken up by plants, then evaporated from plants into the atmosphere, starting the cycle again with precipitation. Groundwater is water stored in spaces deep underground in between rock particles, mostly within 0.8 km or less from Earth’s surface. We access this water by drilling or digging wells. Groundwater is generally of good quality without microbes in it, if kept far from a polluting source.

​

Rainwater can also be a good source of water for families and communities living in areas where it rains a lot. The quality of rainwater is usually very good, but has to be collected from a clean surface (such as a roof), then stored well in a protected and covered cistern.