For a detailed explanation of where Earth's water is, look at the data table below.
Notice how of the world's total water supply of about 332.5 million mi3 of water, over 96 percent is saline.
Of total freshwater, over 68 percent is locked up in ice and glaciers.
Another 30 percent of freshwater is in the ground.
Rivers are the source of most of the fresh surface water people use, but they only constitute about 300 mi3 (1,250 km3), about 1/10,000th of one percent of total water.
Note: Percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
| Water source | Water volume, in cubic miles | Water volume, in cubic kilometers | Percent of freshwater | Percent of total water |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceans, Seas, & Bays | 321,000,000 | 1,338,000,000 | -- | 96.54 |
| Ice caps, Glaciers, & Permanent Snow | 5,773,000 | 24,064,000 | 68.7 | 1.74 |
| Groundwater | 5,614,000 | 23,400,000 | -- | 1.69 |
| Fresh | 2,526,000 | 10,530,000 | 30.1 | 0.76 |
| Saline | 3,088,000 | 12,870,000 | -- | 0.93 |
| Soil Moisture | 3,959 | 16,500 | 0.05 | 0.001 |
| Ground Ice & Permafrost | 71,970 | 300,000 | 0.86 | 0.022 |
| Lakes | 42,320 | 176,400 | -- | 0.013 |
| Fresh | 21,830 | 91,000 | 0.26 | 0.007 |
| Saline | 20,490 | 85,400 | -- | 0.006 |
| Atmosphere | 3,095 | 12,900 | 0.04 | 0.001 |
| Swamp Water | 2,752 | 11,470 | 0.03 | 0.0008 |
| Rivers | 509 | 2,120 | 0.006 | 0.0002 |
| Biological Water | 269 | 1,120 | 0.003 | 0.0001 |
| Source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick (editor), 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, New York). | ||||
Yup, only about 0.0001 per cent of the earths water is ready for people to drink