How water filters itself naturally

Whilst we can provide you with clean water through our own water filters, nature has its own way of filtering its water across the world.
Today, we’re going to look at how the earth maintains its lakes, rivers, and oceans so that we can continue to use and admire them.
Why is natural filtering important?
We rely on the natural world’s ability to filter large amounts of water so that we can harvest it and make our own filtering processes much easier.
Over the years, Earth has adapted to the natural and man-made changes of the world. This has created the natural filters we see today, which remove vital impurities and make water safe for all organisms.
Countries across the world utilise surface water, so this makes natural water filtration one of the most important parts for keeping life on this planet.
What natural methods exist?
The biggest natural filter in the world is actually…soil.
All water that enters soil has the possibility of being used by our society or the ecosystem again. Water that flows through the soil into underground reservoirs is known as groundwater. This is water that sits within the gaps of rocks and soil and is filtered by its surroundings.
But how does the soil filter the groundwater? Well, soil and dirt have billions of microbes stored with them. These microbes then cycle organic and inorganic materials out of the water as it passes through.
Some of these materials can include heavy metals, sediment, and bacteria, but other materials that we have created – such as pesticides can also be present. The soil also enables the breaking down of beneficial nutrients, used by wildlife.
This groundwater is vital for the survival of wildlife that utilises lakes and rivers as drinking water, as it has had impurities removed from it via the soil filtering process.
Another method used by mother nature is the filtration effects of wetlands. Wetlands are large areas and ecosystems that have been flooded with water. This can occur seasonally or become a permanent feature.
These wetlands work slightly differently than the common groundwater system, which largely absorbs rainwater and running water close to its surface.
When water enters a portion of wetland, the flow is slowed dramatically. This allows the impurities (such as the aforementioned heavy metals and sediment) and contents of the water to slowly drop to the bottom and eventually disappear from the water.
Whilst soil does a fantastic job of purifying water, the wetlands are just as important. Environmental Degradation is said to be most prominent within the wetlands, and they are noted as being severely at risk.
You can learn more about the importance of our wetlands and how they can be helped here
It is clear to see that our wonderful planet has plenty of ingenious ways of filtering its water supply.
However, the water we use in our day-to-day lives needs to be the purest it can be. In this regard, Total Soft Water can help.
Check out our water filtration systems here, or give us a call on 01462 455772 where we will be happy to help.
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