Question

Discuss the differences in the quality of water obtained from groundwater sources and water obtained from surface water sources.

Answer 1

1) Groundwater stores pesticide chemicals and nitrate while surface water contains most bacteria and other microorganisms.

2) Groundwater supplies in aquifers below the surface of the Earth are among the nation's most important natural resources and the water used for agriculture comes from ground water.

3) One of the primary differences between surface and ground water is that ground water moves much slower than surface water. This is because ground water experiences far more friction as it moves through the pores in soil then surface water experiences as it flows over the earth's surface.

4) Surface-water can be affected by numerous physical variables such as topography, land cover, soil conditions, mineralogy, and ground-water conditions, all of which may be affected by geologic conditions. Surface water is also more easily contaminated than ground water. Filtration through the soil helps clean ground water.

5) The hydrologic cycle interconnects ground and surface water which means they can contaminate one another. A better understanding of how they are interconnected will be explained. As rain or snow falls to the earth’s surface, some water runs off the land to rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans (surface water). Some water is also evaporated and absorbed by plants or continues to move down to become groundwater. Groundwater very slowly moves toward low areas such as streams and lakes which once again end up in surface water. This cycle is continuous and shows how the two are interconnected.

6) At any given location, groundwater tends to be harder and more saline than surface water.

7) Ground water likely to be free from the pathogenic agents.

8) Ground water containes high mineral content and it is the Hard.

9) Ground water requires pumping or some arrangement for lifting the water.