Introduction to 'groundwater for Wellness'

The ground b
elow our feet
acts as a
vast
store
of water,
nearly
30% of all freshwater resources on
earth
are found underground
. This ‘groundwater
’ exists in the pores
between grains of rock or soil,
within fractures in the rock
, or even
in large cave systems
. Groundwater originates as
rainfall or
snowmelt
that
soaks
into the
ground
continuing
downwards
, under the influence of gravity
, until it
reaches a zone in which all the available spaces are saturated with water
– the top of this zone is called
the water table.
The level of the water tab
le varies across different terrains, climates and rock types,
and
over
time.
Rocks that store and transmit important quantities of
ground
water and provide critical
resources are called aquifers.