Meaning & use
groundwater
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
Water held underground in soil and in cracks and spaces within rock.
Grammar: Uncountable; it does not take a plural and is not used with a/an.
Patterns
- groundwater levels
- contaminate groundwater
- extract groundwater
Farmers in the valley pump groundwater to irrigate their crops.
Chemicals from the factory seeped into the groundwater.
Heavy rain can raise groundwater levels and cause flooding.
noununcountable
The supply of such water considered as a resource for drinking or farming.
Grammar: Uncountable; often used with words like supply, resource, or management.
Patterns
- groundwater resources
- groundwater management
- a source of groundwater
The city depends on groundwater for half its drinking supply.
Overuse has depleted the region's groundwater.
Scientists are mapping groundwater resources across the desert.
Common combinations
- groundwater level
- The groundwater level dropped after years of drought.
- contaminate groundwater
- Leaking fuel tanks can contaminate groundwater.
- groundwater recharge
- Forests help with groundwater recharge by slowing runoff.
- groundwater pollution
- Groundwater pollution is hard to clean up once it spreads.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aquifer
- An aquifer is the rock or sediment that holds groundwater, not the water itself; use aquifer when talking about the geological layer.
- subsurface water
- Subsurface water is a broader technical term for all water below the surface, including soil moisture; groundwater is the part in saturated spaces.
Opposites
Word family
- groundwater-dependent adjective
- Describing plants, animals, or people that rely on groundwater.
Commonly confused: groundwater or surface water?
groundwater vs surface water
Surface water is found in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs above ground; groundwater lies below the surface in soil and rock.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'groundwater' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Groundwater is water held underground, so a well drawing it from deep underground is correct. The other options describe surface water such as lakes, swimming holes, and rivers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “groundwater”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.