Public supply water use refers to the withdrawal, treatment, distribution, and end-use of water by public or private utilities that provide potable water to multiple users, typically including residential, commercial, institutional, and light industrial sectors, as well as public services such as firefighting. In water-resources research, it is quantified in terms of withdrawals from surface water and groundwater, conveyance losses, and delivered volumes, often disaggregated by customer category and metering data. This topic encompasses system efficiency, demand patterns, infrastructure leakage, per capita use, and interactions with regulatory, hydrologic, and climatic constraints in integrated water-resource planning and management.
The volume of water drawn from Scotland's rivers and lochs by the agricultural sector surged by more than 500% during periods of water scarcity in recent years, new research has found. The University of Strathclyde study ...
Environment
May 18, 2026
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Coastal groundwater is a key source of drinking water in many regions of the world. However, it is threatened by overabstraction and the potential for salinization. Rising sea levels are further exacerbating the situation. ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 14, 2026
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As drought conditions intensify across the American West and the impact of climate change accelerates, cities such as Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas may face a sobering reality. While it certainly helps, water conservation ...
Environment
Apr 10, 2026
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When a drought turns into an urban water crisis, a city's first step is often to limit lawn watering and launch a campaign to encourage everyone to conserve. It might raise water-use rates or offer incentives for installing ...
Environment
Apr 8, 2026
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Exposure to "forever chemicals," per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), has been linked to serious health issues, like immune system damage, cancers, pregnancy complications and liver damage. A new study, published in ...
Environment
Apr 7, 2026
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Imagine a dump truck dropping 13 tons of dirt into the waters of Brush Creek, a waterway that feeds northwest Arkansas' primary drinking water source, Beaver Lake. That's how much soil and sediment researchers measured going ...
Environment
Apr 3, 2026
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The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Thursday to include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a list of contaminants in drinking water for the first time, a step that could lead to new limits on those substances for ...
Environment
Apr 2, 2026
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Levels of toxic "forever chemicals" in New Jersey's public water systems dropped by as much as 55% after the state moved to limit the contaminants in drinking water, according to a Rutgers Health researcher who has analyzed ...
Environment
Mar 25, 2026
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The São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA) in Brazil has approximately 22 million inhabitants and consumes an average of 61.6 cubic meters (61,600 liters) of water per second. Although nearly the entire public water supply originates ...
Environment
Mar 20, 2026
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South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world. Over 400 towns, especially in the western and central parts of the country, rely on water from aquifers that they pump out of the ground (groundwater).
Environment
Mar 19, 2026
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