EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Most groundwater, including a significant amount of our drinking water, comes from aquifers. In order to access this water, a well must be created by drilling a hole that reaches the aquifer. While wells are manmade points of discharge for aquifers, they also discharge naturally at springs and in wetlands.

Detailed explanation-2: -Water in aquifers may be brought to the surface naturally through a spring, or can be discharged into lakes and streams. However, most groundwater is brought to the surface by pumping it through a well (which draws the water like soda through a straw) that is drilled into the aquifer.

Detailed explanation-3: -When a water-bearing rock readily transmits water to wells and springs, it is called an aquifer. Wells can be drilled into the aquifers and water can be pumped out. Precipitation eventually adds water (recharge) into the porous rock of the aquifer.

Detailed explanation-4: -Three ways to obtain water from an aquifer include drilling a well below a water table, using pumps to pump water out of an aquifer, and obtaining water from an artesian well due to pressure and natural forces.

Detailed explanation-5: -The time it takes for surface infiltration to reach an aquifer as deep as 400 feet may take hours, days, or even years, depending on the rate of recharge. In some of the flood-irrigated areas, groundwater levels in nearby domestic wells rise within a few hours to days of flood-up.