Additionally, few private well users have regularly tested their water have not discovered contaminants. Groundwater Movement Groundwater is found beneath the surface of the ground where voids within the soil and rocks are saturated with water. The source of groundwater is precipitation which soaks into the soil then percolates down through soil and rock until it reaches the saturated zone, the top of which is called the water table. When enough groundwater is available to supply a well, the formation is called an aquifer. Once in the saturated zone, groundwater usually moves less than a few feet per day through porous sand and gravel deposits, and eventually resurfaces at springs, wetlands, or streams.
Water also moves through cracks, joints, and solution channels in rock aquifers.
These comparatively large openings permit water to move more rapidly, much farther and more unpredictably than in unconsolidated sands and gravel. This text was extracted from the publication, MF932.