Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Where do most people get their drinking water?
   
   
• People get their drinking water from either surface runoff or groundwater. Surface runoff would be streams, rivers and eventually lakes. Groundwater is water that has soaked into the ground and can be withdrawn through a well.
  
  
2. Why make a 3D model to solve a groundwater problem?
   
   
• The reason scientist make 3D models to understand groundwater is that without data from underground we can only see the surface. With just a map of the surface it is very difficult to solve problems with groundwater.
  
  
3. How much of the water on the earth is fresh water (drinkable)?
   
   
• Out of all the water on the Earth only 3% is freshwater. Believe it or not most of the world's freshwater (70% or 2/3) is located in glaciers such as Antartica. So to most of the worlds population only 30% of the fresh water supply is accessable. This 30% is comprised of lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater. Groundwater makes up 29% of the worlds fresh water supply. So glaciers compose 70%, groundwater 29%, and lakes, rivers,and streams compose 1% of the worlds fresh water supply.
  
  
4. Is drinking water all that important?
   
   
   • Yes! A human can survive a considerable amount of time without food but cannot go past three days without water. Out of all the recognized nations in the world (213) currently only in seven are you able to drink the water from the tap and not run the risk of becoming ill. The use of filters in the U.S. has increased considerably in the past decade and the cost of bottled water continues to rise. This is due in part to increase in population and contamination of surface runoff and groundwater.