What do you know about H2O? Where does our water come from? What does it take to keep it safe and

clean and how can we help? Our guest today is a groundwater hydrologist and an expert on

managing our groundwater resources. From tracking water quality to developing new groundwater

technology, he's a leading voice for our waterways.

Coming up, the groundwater discussion is flowing on this episode of Technology Today.

We live with technology, science, engineering, and the results of innovative research every day.

Now, let's understand it better.

You're listening to the Technology Today podcast presented by Southwest Research Institute.

Hello and welcome to technology today. I'm your host, Lisa Benia. Managing our groundwater resources is a major task.

Stormwater runoff, leaking septic tanks, and municipal waste degrade groundwater sources like aquifers.

And those are just some of the many issues that can disrupt our groundwater.

Our guest today is a Southwest Research Institute scientist and groundwater hydrologist, Dr. Ronald Green.

He's always looking at new ways to keep our groundwater system running smoothly.

Thanks for joining us, Ron.

You're welcome. Thank you.

So let's start the conversation by classifying groundwater.

What is it, what is the depth for it to be called groundwater?

There are different interpretations or definitions of groundwater, but it's mostly water that's

underground. You have an unsaturated zone and a saturated zone. So some define groundwater

as that part of the saturated zone below the water table, but you have to recognize

that the ground above the saturated zone also has water. It's just that it's not fully saturated.

We call that the unsaturated zone. So groundwater would be that water that's underground. All right. Any water beneath the

...