General Water Usage - AP Environmental Science

It is estimated that roughly 50% of individuals in the United States rely on groundwater for their water supplies. In some countries this percentage approaches 100%.

Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of the usable fresh water on earth, using up roughly 70% of water consumed by humans.

In hydroponics, plants are grown in nutrient-rich water and there is no soil involved in the process. Some water is lost through evaporation, but since it is a closed system, very little water is lost.

Flushing the toilet is the largest contributor to household water consumption, averaging about three gallons of water per flush.

Seventy-five percent of Earth's surface is water, and the oceans contain ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water. This means that roughly three percent of the Earth's water resides in rivers, lakes, glaciers, and water vapor.

The correct response is watershed. A watershed is the drainage basin for a particular region. It’s where water collects or drains. It's functions like a funnel. The other answer choices deal with different aspects of water. Estuaries are transition zones between marine and freshwater systems. Deltas are also transition zones where a river dumps sediment into a body of water. And groundwater is not specific to a region - it's just water that is found underneath the soil surface.

The correct response is delta. This is the region where a river meets another body of water. It is a transition zone. Important ecological and biological processes occur in delta regions. One good example of a delta is the Nile Delta where the Nile River meets the Mediterranean Sea.

The correct response is littoral. The littoral layer is the layer in a freshwater lake along the shoreline with shallow water. The limnetic layer represent "open water", so this layer is off the coastline and in the middle of the freshwater lake. The benthic layer is along the bottom of the lake (i.e. benthic = bottom). And the profundal layer is the layer at the bottom of deep lakes where the light can't reach the bottom.

It is estimated that roughly 50% of individuals in the United States rely on groundwater for their water supplies. In some countries this percentage approaches 100%.

Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of the usable fresh water on earth, using up roughly 70% of water consumed by humans.

In hydroponics, plants are grown in nutrient-rich water and there is no soil involved in the process. Some water is lost through evaporation, but since it is a closed system, very little water is lost.

Flushing the toilet is the largest contributor to household water consumption, averaging about three gallons of water per flush.

Seventy-five percent of Earth's surface is water, and the oceans contain ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water. This means that roughly three percent of the Earth's water resides in rivers, lakes, glaciers, and water vapor.

The correct response is 97%. The remaining 3% is freshwater.

The correct response is watershed. A watershed is the drainage basin for a particular region. It’s where water collects or drains. It's functions like a funnel. The other answer choices deal with different aspects of water. Estuaries are transition zones between marine and freshwater systems. Deltas are also transition zones where a river dumps sediment into a body of water. And groundwater is not specific to a region - it's just water that is found underneath the soil surface.

The correct response is delta. This is the region where a river meets another body of water. It is a transition zone. Important ecological and biological processes occur in delta regions. One good example of a delta is the Nile Delta where the Nile River meets the Mediterranean Sea.

The correct response is littoral. The littoral layer is the layer in a freshwater lake along the shoreline with shallow water. The limnetic layer represent "open water", so this layer is off the coastline and in the middle of the freshwater lake. The benthic layer is along the bottom of the lake (i.e. benthic = bottom). And the profundal layer is the layer at the bottom of deep lakes where the light can't reach the bottom.

Seventy-five percent of Earth's surface is water, and the oceans contain ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water. This means that roughly three percent of the Earth's water resides in rivers, lakes, glaciers, and water vapor.

The correct response is 97%. The remaining 3% is freshwater.