Natural Sources of fresh water

Natural Sources of fresh water

Three types of natural sources of fresh water are available on the earth.

Surface water

Water present on the surface of the earth such as river,lake,ponds, streams or fresh water wetland is called surface water.

Frozen water

Water that is present in the frozen form as polar ice-caps and glaciers are called frozen water. A larger portion of water is 68.7% of the total available fresh water is in frozen state.

Ground water

Ground water is the water present beneath Earth's surface in soil. This water is obtained through springs, open wells, tube wells, or hand pumps etc.,

The Himalayas

The Himalayas, contain ice caps, ice bergs and glaciers. Ten of Asia’s largest rivers flow from the Himalayas and more than a billion people’s livelihoods depend on those rivers.

More to know: Water, is measured in litre and millilitre. Gallon is also a measure of volume of liquids.

1 Gallon = 3.785 litre

Water level in the reserviors is measured in TMC/feet. Water released from dams is measured in cusec (cubic feet/sec).

Aquatic animals

During winter, water in lakes and ponds in the cold countries will be frozen and a solid layer of ice is formed on the surface of water. Still aquatic animals living under the ice do not die. This is because the floating layer of ice acts as a protective coat, and doesn’t permit heat to escape from water. So as the water at the surface alone turns to ice, it the existence of aquatic animals.