The West TN Aquifer: Why Our Water Tastes So Good

What makes up 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and tastes especially amazing in West Tennessee? Water; plain and simple, but it’s not just any old water. The water people in West Tennessee use is collected via wells from the underground, sandstone aquifer. Below our feet, there are millions of gallons of water that we use to shower, water crops, and wash our cars with. The water we’re using is some of the cleanest, best-tasting water in the world, and here’s why.

An aquifer is a layer of rock that contains water. How does something solid like a layer of rock hold water you ask? Aquifers are only found in certain types of rock layers. These layers have to contain rocks that are permeable and/or porous. This means that the rocks are composed of a material that is not solid; it has tiny holes that allow water to flow through it. The West Tennessee Aquifer is in a layer of rock called sandstone. Water can easily collect in the spaces between the grains of sand that compose sand-stone. This exact process is a type of filtration--the water flows through the sandstone removing impurities, making better tasting water. It’s why our water is so amazing!

The process of filtration that our water goes through is one of the reasons why it’s so dangerous to dump oil and other chemicals on the ground here. Whatever is dumped outside is whatever we drink. The aquifer refills itself with rainwater. It soaks into the ground where it ends up in the aquifer. Chemicals follow the same process if dumped. You dump it, you drink it; we all drink it. Let’s take care of our aquifer and properly dispose of hazardous waste properly. Proper disposal means we can all keep enjoying the water in our aquifer; the best water in the world!