What is freshwater?

Freshwater is water that doesn’t taste salty and is usually safe to drink.

Imagine you’re drinking from a glass of water at home, that’s freshwater! It's like the water in your kitchen sink or the lake near your house. It’s not too different from seawater, but it lacks the salt that makes oceans taste like they do.

Freshwater is found in lakes, rivers, and even underground in places we call aquifers. These are like hidden water tanks beneath the ground, you can’t see them, but they hold a lot of water!

Sometimes freshwater turns into ice, like when it’s super cold outside. That's what happens in glaciers or when your soda freezes in the fridge.

Most of Earth's water is salty, but freshwater comes from rain and snowmelt. When it rains, that water falls on land and flows into lakes and rivers. It’s like a big, slow-moving journey, from the sky down to where you can drink it!

So next time you take a sip of water, think about all the places it could have come from, and how special it is!