How We Use Water
How We Use Water
Water Use in the United States
Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs)
Water Availability and Use Science Program: National Water Census
USGS announces 10 IWAAs pilot projects
Supporting the development of national and regional Integrated Water Availability Assessments
Supporting the development of national and regional Integrated Water Availability Assessments
Find water science information and activities related to the different ways we use water.
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Drinking Water Taste and Odor
Some water is just unpleasant to drink—it’s cloudy, or it smells or tastes bad. Some drinking water discolors teeth or skin, stains laundry or plumbing fixtures, or corrodes or clogs pipes. These effects are caused when some naturally occurring constituents occur at concentrations high enough to be a nuisance, and are particularly common where groundwater is used as a drinking water supply.
Stream Ecology
Who lives in your stream? Rivers and streams, even small ones, are teeming with a vast number of species, including fish, aquatic invertebrates, and algae. Stream ecology is the study of those aquatic species, the way they interrelate, and their interactions with all aspects of these flowing water systems.
USGS / National Park Service Water-Quality Partnership
Since 1998, the USGS-National Park Service Water-Quality Partnership has supported 217 projects to protect and improve water quality in 119 national parks. These USGS-NPS collaborative projects support science-based resource management by the National Park Service to address critical water-quality issues for many of our Nation's most highly valued aquatic systems.
Gold King Mine release (2015): USGS water-quality data and activities
On August 5, 2015, U.S. EPA was conducting an investigation of the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. While excavating as part of the investigation, water began leaking from the mine tunnel, and about three million gallons of water and sediment were released into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River. The USGS provided pre- and post-release water-quality and streamflow data from...