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Types of Water Resources

Different Types of Water Sources Surface water resources such as rivers, lakes, and streams are most commonly used for drinking water in the US due to their accessibility and ability to be easily filtered. However, they require extensive treatment due to other uses that can pollute them. Groundwater is actually the largest source of water but is difficult to access and filter. Stormwater and wastewater are also sources but require treatment before use due to pollutants picked up from the environment. Saltwater and ice cap water currently require more advanced technologies than what is available to desalinate or access them for drinking.

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106 views4 pages

Types of Water Resources

Different Types of Water Sources Surface water resources such as rivers, lakes, and streams are most commonly used for drinking water in the US due to their accessibility and ability to be easily filtered. However, they require extensive treatment due to other uses that can pollute them. Groundwater is actually the largest source of water but is difficult to access and filter. Stormwater and wastewater are also sources but require treatment before use due to pollutants picked up from the environment. Saltwater and ice cap water currently require more advanced technologies than what is available to desalinate or access them for drinking.

Uploaded by

Trixia Alen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Different Types of Water

Sources
by Tony Mers | Apr 2, 2020 | News | 0 comments

Accessing the water you need might be as simple as turning on the


faucet, but this isn’t ultimately where your water comes from. In fact,
the Earth’s water supply comes from a series of different places—
some you might expect, and others you might not. To fully understand
the process of obtaining quality drinking water for your home, it’s
crucial that you first know these sources. These are the different types
of water sources around the globe and how they each play a role in
what comes out of your home’s sink.

Surface Water Resources


Surface water resources are the most commonly used method of
supplying water to various regions in the United States. This
classification primarily includes rivers, lakes, streams, reservoirs, and
wetlands—all of which contain fresh water rather than saltwater.
These sources are easiest to filter, so they produce the highest-quality
drinking water for the general public. Plus, another reason we mostly
use these resources is their accessibility—many people live near large
lakes or streams from which they can easily extract water. Surface
water is therefore the most reasonable option for providing homes and
businesses with the resources they need to function.
However, people commonly use rivers and lakes for recreational
activities such as swimming and fishing; these places also play a part
in the industrial manufacturing processes. As such, water from these
sources requires extensive sterilization before it’s ready for
consumption and use.

Groundwater Resources
Believe it or not, there’s actually a larger source of water underneath
your feet than there is in all the rivers and lakes combined. However,
we rarely get to tap into these sources due to how difficult they are to
reach. Groundwater fills the cracks in bedrock and sand beneath the
surface, making contaminants tedious to filter out in large quantities.
These sources also saturate soil and contain so much sediment that
the water must undergo a thorough filtration process to even become
drinkable. So, while groundwater is the main source of plant hydration,
it’s not often a sustainable option for people. Fortunately, we aren’t
completely cut off from groundwater sources—many of them feed
some of our surface water supplies through underground springs.
Stormwater Resources
Otherwise known as runoff or rainwater, stormwater is water that
comes from heavy weather such as rain, snow, and hail. This water
flows over the land and, in the process, collects a variety of pollutants
such as engine oil, fertilizer, and pesticides. As it picks up these
contaminants, it eventually gathers in different areas, potentially
combining with some of our other water sources. For this reason,
stormwater—and water from any other type of source—must undergo
a series of tests that properly identify and filter out dangerous toxins.
In addition, since the majority of this water flows back into the oceans,
capturing it beforehand is a great way to increase our overall water
supply on land. For this reason, many sustainability experts have
researched different ways to collect this water and filter it before it
washes away.

Wastewater Resources
You might not initially think of it as an option, but wastewater is
another type of water source in the world. This is the water we use for
our household, manufacturing, and agricultural activities; it’s then
disposed of through our drains and local sewage systems. Because
this water has already been used, it may contain several potentially
toxic elements that must be filtered out and disposed of before the
water can be used again. Unfortunately, while recycling water is a
common practice in various communities, most wastewater still gets
dumped in local surface water resources. This contaminates them and
makes it even more difficult to filter out all the contaminants. For this
reason, conservation efforts to stop businesses from dumping
wastewater into lakes and rivers are on the rise. Preventing this
practice better maintains the amount of water for us to live off of.

Saltwater Resources
It’s common knowledge that our oceans make up over 70 percent of
the planet. However, the salty, abrasive nature of this water makes
using it for any of our current processes extremely difficult. In fact, the
amount of salt present in ocean water makes it impossible for us to
safely drink it in large enough quantities to survive. This is why we
dominantly rely on freshwater sources to supply us with the water we
need to drink. Fortunately, recent advances in filtration technology
have yielded more effective ways to dilute saltwater and remove the
acidity that prevents us from using it. Still, desalination plants are low
in number due to the amount of energy this filtration process requires.
Further evolution of these tools will make the process more
sustainable and easier to repeat.

Ice Cap Water Resources


Shockingly, it’s theoretically possible for us to retrieve some water
from the polar ice caps and glaciers. These large bodies of ice float
through the oceans, but they actually consist of fresh water. This
makes them some of our most ideal resources—if we can develop
reliable ways to tap into them. Unfortunately, the glaciers are too far
away for us to regularly utilize, and we have yet to come up with an
effective way to melt them. The process of even reaching these
territories is too much of an economical burden to be sustainable for
long periods. In addition to this, the polar ice caps are crucial to
regulating the Earth’s surface temperature. Going through the effort of
melting them would ultimately throw our global temperatures out of
balance and do more harm than good.
By appreciating these water sources, you can gain a further
understanding of what it means to have clean, refreshing water to
drink each day. The process water goes through to reach your faucet
is a long one, and we at H2O Coolers want to better hone this process
in your own home or office. Our bottle-less hot and cold water
dispenser services in NYC not only purify any existing toxins from your
water supply, but also turn your water into meta-water. With
our advanced filtration process, you can greatly increase the benefits
you receive just from drinking your own tap water.

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