aquifer (alt. aquafer)
A natural holding tank of porous rock or soil locked between impermeable layers in which water may travel long distances.
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Aquifer-Underground layers of rock, sand, gravel, or sediment that trap, store, and transport water. It generally holds enough water to be used as a water supply. Aquifer depletion-Using the water in an aquifer faster than nature can replace it.
With water levels in aquifers dropping in some parts of the state and salty water a problem with some wells, lawn grass choice is a critical concern. Bluegrass is relatively intolerant of salts.
Overwatering carries fertilizers and pesticides beyond root zones into ground water stored in alluvial or bedrock aquifers below the soil surface. Water in these aquifers can interact, sharing chemical contaminants.
After 7 days of retention it is inspected for quality, and then injected into underground aquifers using technology borrowed from the oil industry.
But even on a planet that is three-fourths water, the supply of fresh water is diminishing. Americans extract 3,700 billion gallons per year more than is returned to aquifers and other freshwater sources.
To make matters worse, it's estimated that 65 percent of these chemicals find their way into our lakes, rivers and underground aquifers.
That means sewage gets dumped, untreated, into rivers and lakes.
In contrast, rainwater that falls on porous ground is filtered through layers of soil and rock and into ground water aquifers or into streams, rivers and lakes unassisted.
When this concentrated water finally reaches streams and rivers, it can cause them to flood. What's more, by collecting water that would otherwise run off into streams and rivers, wetlands also replenish aquifers and groundwater supplies.
 See also: Plant, Water, Soil, Natural, Environment
  
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