Water

I. INTRODUCTION

GROUNDWATER RESERVOIR

Most of the Earth’s liquid freshwater is found, not in lakes and rivers, but is stored underground in aquifers. Indeed, these aquifers provide a valuable base flow supplying water to rivers during periods of no rainfall. They are therefore an essential resource that requires protection so that groundwater can continue to sustain the human race and the various ecosystems that depend on it. The contribution from groundwater is vital; perhaps as many as two billion people depend directly upon aquifers for drinking water, and 40 percent of the world’s food is produced by irrigated agriculture that relies largely on groundwater. In the future, aquifer development will continue to be fundamental to economic development and reliable water supplies will be needed for domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes.

Yet recognition of the pivotal role of groundwater in human development is relatively recent and still patchy. This omission is understandable; water stored

in the ground beneath our feet is invisible and so its depletion or degradation due to contamination can proceed unnoticed, unlike our rivers, lakes and reservoirs, where drying-up or pollution rapidly becomes obvious and is reported in the news media.

This research is devoted to groundwater in Santa Maria, Bulacan as another source of drinkable water.

SETTING THE SCENE

HOW IS GROUNDWATER USEFUL AND DRINKABLE?

Groundwater constitutes about 95 per cent of the freshwater on our planet (discounting that locked in the polar ice caps), making it fundamental to human life and economic development. There are many reasons why society has found it so useful to develop groundwater, but among the most important are:

➢ many aquifers are also able to offer natural protection from contamination, so untreated groundwater is usually cleaner and safer than its untreated surface water equivalent;

➢ Groundwater is relatively easy and cheap to use. It can be...