Credit: EARTH to DOME
Getting fresh water has become increasingly difficult for residents of the United States.
Wells are being forced to go deeper than ever to get water, and as a result, the costs to dig deeper are skyrocketing.
In addition to increasing costs, scientists believe that the practice of digging deeper is not sustainable. With groundwater as the source of drinking water for more than 120 million people, this could be problematic down the line. Water levels are dropping, especially in larger populations and farming regions.
One of the more popular responses to getting more water was to dig deeper into the wells. However, data was compiled on 11.8 million wells built between 1975 to 2015 and in that time, wells have gotten deeper across 70% of the country. This number is quite alarming.
Tapping into more water than expected could lead to a loss of water in the future. It also means expending more energy to pump the water out, which is a big reason for the increase in the cost. Another problem is that the deeper you dig to obtain water, the more likely the water is going to contain salt.
Areas that are less wealthy will have a difficult time keeping up with obtaining and treating the water that is being pumped out. This is just another example of an environmental problem that is going to continue to grow more and more widespread over the next hundred years.
