As the most abundant resource in the world, water plays a pretty important role in our everyday lives. Seventy percent of the Earth is covered by water. Despite this, 780 million people lack access to an improved water source—about one in nine people.
When you break down the numbers, the available clean water in the world is even less. Only one percent of the Earth’s water is suitable for drinking and just three percent of the Earth’s water is fresh water. In spite of water’s importance and abundance, the world’s water supply is constantly plagued by various forms of pollution.

Lack of adequate sanitation contaminates water courses worldwide and is one of the most significant forms of water pollution. Worldwide, 2.5 billion people live without improved sanitation. More than 70% of these people who lack sanitation, about 1.8 billion people, live in Asia.

Many types of pollution affect the world’s water supply and some of these forms of pollution include:

• Chemical water pollution: Every day, two million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are discharged into the world’s water supply. About 20% of wastewater comes from agricultural operations and commercial discharge.
  Farmers and industries use chemicals that end up in water including pesticides and runoff from metals and solvents. Chemicals are poisonous to animals and aquatic life.
• Suspended matter: Some pollutants don’t always dissolve in water easily and settle under water bodies. This is known as particulate matter.
• Nutrient pollution: Wastewater, sewage and other pollutants have high nutrient levels and encourage the growth of weeds and algae. The buildup of weeds and algae clogs filters and makes water undrinkable.
• Ground water pollution: Using pesticides and chemicals for things like gardening causes these pollutants to wash deep into the ground by rainwater. Ultimately, this may cause pollution in underground water sources and in wells.

Maintaining a clean supply of groundwater is very important. Ground water accounts for more than 95% of the United States’ available fresh water and is the drinking source for half the people in the country. But more than 80% of the most serious hazardous waste sites in the country have adversely impacted the quality of nearby ground water. About 70% of the industrial waste each year is dumped into water bodies where they pollute the usable water supply; that includes many ground water sources.

Groundwater is the aquifers below Earth’s surface and is paramount to the survival of the rural areas of the United States. These areas don’t have water delivered to them from a city or county water source and depend on water for everyday use, irrigation and livestock among other needs.

When it comes to liquid filtration, there are many options for liquid filters. One of the best types of liquid filter is membrane filtration. Using a thin membrane as a liquid filter helps remove parasites, organic matter and particulates among other things. As a liquid filter, membrane filtration is coveted by the food and beverage industry to purify liquids and other food items.

There are many benefits of using membrane filtration as a liquid filter and these benefits include:

• It’s reliable: Membrane filtration and products used in membrane filtration meet industry standards because they are reliable and make water more pure once it’s filtered.
• It’s effective: Membrane filtration technology can remove contaminants in water at rates of 99.9%.
• It’s easy to use: Most technologies involved in water filtration and contamination removal usually require constant adjusting. Thankfully, membrane filtration systems use a high degree of automation, which makes the filtration process much smoother.