- Water gets from the ocean to the faucet by deep well drilling and then pumping it to the surface, where it’s then treated and filtered
- This potable water is then stored in reservoirs until it gets pumped through water mains (underground pipe systems) right into your home faucet
A random thought you may have for each day is, how does water from the ocean get to your faucet? What’s the process? When you think about other questions you have, you may not understand how things come together.
This guide will answer all your questions, and you may find answers to questions you didn’t know you had. Get ready to blow your mind on how fascinating it can be to learn how the water comes from the ocean to your faucet.
1. Back to the Beginning
To understand how it comes from the ocean into your faucet, it’s best to go back to how it all started. When the ocean was created over 8 billion years ago. people were still trying to figure things out.
No one had homes with faucets that long ago. Many people believe the process started back before the ocean was created, but other people assume that the saltwater automatically goes to the homes. Are any of those statements true?
What happened? Next, it’s time to talk about the first part of the process.
2. How is Saltwater in the Ocean Formed?
When you drink from the faucet, it doesn’t taste salty. You would think it would because the ocean has salt water. How does the saltwater in the sea form into what it is today?
It’s not like anyone dumps buckets into a ditch and covers it in salt. The process is known as the water cycle, and the beginning stage is how the saltwater forms. Rain clouds develop from the sea.
When it rains, some of the moisture is lost. The rain from the sky will also fall on land. As the rain falls, it will go downhill and reach the ocean at some point in the process.
3. What Happens After the Water Reaches Sea Level
When it reaches sea level, some of it goes into another section, and the rest will stay in the ocean for people and animals to swim in. This other section is known as a reservoir.
4. What is a Reservoir?
A reservoir is almost like a small lake where the water waits to be moved to everyone’s faucets for drinking, cooking, or bathing. When it is moved into the reservoir, it does not turn into saltwater like it does when it reaches sea level.
5. What Happens After it Falls into the Reservoir?
Before you end up drinking from the faucet, it has to be safe to drink. For it to be safe, certain elements need to be removed before it is transferred into your home. These elements are silt and aerating.
Silt is known as the sand or dirt on the bottom of the reservoir. Aerating means that air is mixed with water. When you mix air with it, the air cleans the water before it is safe to drink.
This process is known as aeration.
6. What Happens Once the Elements are Removed?
Now it’s time to learn about the last stage in the cycle. While all of this is captured in the reservoir, the cycle is still happening in the ocean. The saltwater in the ocean is not messed with.
Once the water in the reservoir is cleaned and chemicals are removed, it will travel through underground pipes.
Those pipes lead to homes they are connected to. There are several reservoirs across the globe. One reservoir can’t connect to everyone’s homes. There are reservoirs in each area you live in, but no one sees them.
7. Are There any Other Theories?
Now that the cycle process has been explained, you may wonder if any other theories will back this up.
It has also been reported that a hole can be dug up underground, called a well, and the water from that well will be pumped to the top. That water will be transferred to the reservoir where the rest of the process can be completed.
Hopefully, all your questions have been answered about how your drinking water from the faucet comes from the ocean. The process is a great learning experience for everyone to know. The cycle continues to happen every day, so you will have clean water in your home for years to come.
If you enjoyed learning about how salt water gets to your home, you might want to check out these backyard sand pools to get a taste of the ocean in your backyard!
Hi, I’m Ryan Nelson! I live in the Hamptons, out on Long Island, near Ponquogue Beach. The beach is a place where I can find peace and serenity. It’s a place where I can sit and clear my head. The waves crashing on the shore somehow helps me to relax, while also reminding me that I am far from the stressors of daily life.
