ENV100Y5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Water Table, Aquifer, Aeration

• School: UTM
• Department: Environment
• Course: ENV100Y5
• Professor: Barbara Murck

Document Summary

Unsaturated zone(zone of aeration): some air, some water. Aquiclude: zone that prevents water from moving aquifers. Where water table intersects surface - surface water. Recharge - water flows into aquifer via precipitation/infiltration. Discharge - water flows out of aquifer via percolation/streams/springs/ocean. Residence time may be thousands of years. If discharge exceeds recharge, water table can be depressed. Hazardous waste pumped underground- manufacturing and military sites. Groundwater pollution is particularly difficult to manage : Slow breakdown due to low dissolved oxygen levels. Water is unequally distributed/surface water pollution of water. Many areas with high population density are water poor and face serious water shortages. Water use has increased fourfold over the past 40 years. Dripping taps in rich countries waste more water daily than is available to 1 billion people. Many people die from unclean and poor sanitation of water. There is already a global water crisis.