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Article: Pollution of Groundwater
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- Water:Science and Issues
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pollution of Groundwater
About half the population in the United States relies to some extent on
groundwater
as a source of drinking water, and still more use it to supply their factories with process water or their farms with
irrigation
water. However, if all water uses such as irrigation and power production are included, only about 25 percent of the water used nationally is derived from groundwater. Still, for those who rely on it, it is critical that their groundwater be unpolluted and relatively free of undesirable
contaminants
.
A groundwater pollutant is any substance that, when it reaches an
aquifer
, makes the water unclean or otherwise unsuitable for a particular purpose. ...