What is the difference between surface and ground water?
Surface water is water found over the land surface in streams, ponds, marshes, lakes or other fresh (not salty) sources. Ground water is water occurring in the zone of saturation in an aquifer or soil. Other than the location, one of the primary differences between surface and ground water is that ground water moves much slower than surface water. This is because ground water experiences far more friction as it moves through the pores in soil then surface water experiences as it flows over the earth’s surface. Surface water is much more easily contaminanted than ground water. Filtration through the soil helps clean ground water.
