Although disinfection is an important step in the treatment of potable water, the taste and odor of chlorine is objectionable. And, the disinfectants that are used to prevent disease, can create byproducts which may pose significant health risks. Consumers are taking matters into their own hands and are now determining the quality of the water they and their families will drink by installing a drinking water system that will give them clean, refreshing, and healthier water. As a solid, ice, it forms glaciers, frozen lakes and rivers, snow, hail, and frost. It is liquid as rain and dew, and it covers three-quarters of the earth's surface in swamps, lakes, rivers, and oceans.
Water also occurs in the soil and beneath the earth's surface as a vast groundwater reservoir.
As gas, or water vapor, it occurs as fog, steam, and clouds. Protoplasm is a solution of water and fats, carbohydrates, proteins, and salts. Water transports, combines, and chemically breaks down these substances. Water also aids the metabolic breakdown of proteins and carbohydrates. The continuous movement of water between the earth and the atmosphere is the hydrological cycle.