There are various reasons of wastage of water at individual level. All of us waste water while brushing teeth, shaving, bathing, washing and during various other activities. Leaking taps is also a big source of huge water waste. We generally leave the taps running at public places. This habit makes huge loss of potable water.

If we dig a hole in the ground and dig deeper and deeper, we could reach a level where all the space between particles of soil and gaps between rocks are filled with water. The upper limit of this layer is called the water table. The water found below the water table is called groundwater.

The amount of water recommended by the United Nations for various uses of a person per day is 50 litres. Millions of people in our country do not get enough water to fulfill minimum requirement, this means shortage of water.

(a) The source of water in walls is groundwater
(b) The source of water on ground is rain.
(c) The source of water in atmosphere is evaporation.

The number of problems that can be faced due to shortage of water are as follows
(i) Less amount of pure drinking water will be available.
(ii) Lack of equal distribution of water.
(iii) Drought.

We face shortage of water mainly because water is not evenly distributed by the nature on the earth. Some places such as North East India get so much rains, so that it gets flooded almost every year.
On the other hand, Thar desert in Rajasthan may get rains rarely in the monsoon season. This uneven pattern of rains causes water scarcity in India at some places.

The three forms of water
(a) in nature are snow (solid), water (liquid) and water vapour (gas).
(b) at home are ice (solid), water (liquid) and steam (gas).

P - Aquifer, Q - Soil, R - Permeable rocks,
S -Water table

The complete table is given below

Sketch showing groundwater and water table,

The factors responsible for depletion of water table are as follows:
(i) Increasing population It decreases the open area for seepage of water into the grounds,
(ii) Increasing industries Most of the stages of manufacturing processes in industries require water. If the number of industries increases, then the water required by them will also increase and will lead to the depletion of water table.
(iii) Agricultural activities The water for agriculture is mainly utilised from groundwater, rainwater and canal water. The increased population causes pressure on agricultural practices. This inturn causes increase the use of groundwater and leads to the depletion of water table.

To maintain a garden, water is necessary. Therefore, to minimise the use of water, we can apply the drip irrigation method. In this method, water is supplied directly to the base of the plants using narrow pipes, thereby reducing the loss of water.

If these tubewells are used for long time continuously, then the groundwater level would be reduced. Thus, we can say that population increase is one of the major cause for depletion of water table.

The groundwater is recharged in the following manner:
(i) Rainwater and the water from waterbodies on the earth surface pass through the soil by the process of infiltration.
(ii) The infiltrated water then gets accumulated in the aquifer deep under the ground.