GROUND WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF CUDDALORE DISTRICT, TAMILNADU, INDIA

Abstract

Water covers 70.9% of the Earth's surface, and is vital for all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5% of the planet's water is found mostly in oceans; 1.7% in groundwater; 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland; a small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air, and precipitation. Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is fresh water, and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater (0.003%) is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.