The remaining water soaks into the ground. This water seeps slowly down to the bedrock. This ground water runs back gradually to the lakes, oceans, and other bodies of water. Water in the soil is absorbed by the roots of plants. By eating plants, animals obtain some water, but most of their required water comes directly from drinking.
Plants break down part of the water into oxygen and hydrogen during photosynthesis.
However, much of the water that is returned to the atmosphere as water is lost from the pores in the leaves of plants. When plants and animals die, the water in their tissues is released back into the environment. Water vapour returns to the atmosphere through the pores of plants. Water vapour is also collected from the soil's surface by drying winds. Most water is returned to the atmosphere by evaporation from the oceans, lakes, and ponds.