Why is 99 of the water on earth not drinkable?
99% of the liquid freshwater is groundwater, much of which is far too deep to be accessible. The remainder of the earth’s freshwater exists in lakes and rivers, represented by the tiniest sphere, with a volume of 22,339 cubic miles (Perlman, 2016).
What is the amount of potable water on the earth?
The total volume of water on Earth is estimated at 1.386 billion km³ (333 million cubic miles), with 97.5% being salt water and 2.5% being fresh water. Of the fresh water, only 0.3% is in liquid form on the surface.
What is considered potable water?
Potable water, also known as drinking water, comes from surface and ground sources and is treated to levels that that meet state and federal standards for consumption. Water from natural sources is treated for microorganisms, bacteria, toxic chemicals, viruses and fecal matter.
What percentage of water on Earth is fresh and clean enough to drink?
About 70 percent of the earth is water, but only 2.5 percent of that is freshwater.
Where is Earth’s water found?
Earth’s water is (almost) everywhere: above the Earth in the air and clouds, on the surface of the Earth in rivers, oceans, ice, plants, in living organisms, and inside the Earth in the top few miles of the ground.
What is largest source of water?
Oceans, which are the largest source of surface water, comprise approximately 97 percent of the Earth’s surface water.
What is the main source of water?
Complete answer: The main source of water is the rainwater. The water cycle is a process that involves evaporation, condensation and precipitation and the output is rainwater. The water source is important in the water cycle. The water resources are lake, pond, canal, the river from where water evaporates.
How do we get fresh water?
Rain and snow that falls on the land either seeps into low places – feeding aquifers and groundwater tables –or flows down hill, forming headwaters. Fresh water is found in glaciers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, streams, wetlands and even groundwater.
What are the 3 types of water?
Water can occur in three states: solid (ice), liquid or gas (vapor).
Why is the sea is salty?
Salt in the sea, or ocean salinity, is mainly caused by rain washing mineral ions from the land into water. Carbon dioxide in the air dissolves into rainwater, making it slightly acidic. When rain falls, it weathers rocks, releasing mineral salts that separate into ions.