Understanding Sources of Drinking Water

At Ashton Tucker, our primary services involve supplying the water processing equipment and testing procedures to get you the water filtration you need. At the same time, though, a huge part of our mission is informing and educating our clients and communities as a whole about water purification and healthy practices.

One of the most important areas of knowledge in this realm involves the source of water. Community water systems obtain water from two primary sources: Surface water and ground water. What are the differences between these kinds of water, and how are they often protected to keep their purification processes relatively simple? Let’s find out.

Surface Water

Surface water refers to any water that collects in an above-ground location. These can include everything from small streams to rivers, lakes, reservoirs and oceans. It can also include basic pooling of water on the ground, as long as the water doesn’t seep through to below the ground.

About 68 percent of community water system users got their water from a surface source, according to the EPA. Surface water is a more common source of water in larger metropolitan areas, because it’s generally far easier to access and store in these areas.

Ground Water

Ground water is any water located below the ground surface, or in pores and spaces in rocks. Ground water is obtained by drilling wells, and is much more common in rural areas where such wells are more common.

Ground water supplies about 32 percent of the water to community system users, and about 15 percent of the United States population draws their water from private ground wells, per the EPA. More public water systems are supplied by ground water than by surface water, but due to the size of their communities, surface water reservoirs cumulatively serve more people.

Watersheds

Watersheds are any area that drains into a common waterway like a stream, lake, wetland or ocean. The EPA and many other community organizations work to protect watersheds.

These can’t always rid drinking water of all contamination, though, and this is where a company like Ashton Tucker comes in. Our water treatment equipment will provide the highest quality in purification from both surface and ground water sources, with a strong technical team to back up our quality guarantee. Speak with one of our experts today to learn more.