You may not know this, but the water you drink and use is really the same water that your grandparents used. And your great-grandparents. And your great-great-grandparents. And it goes a lot further back than that. The water that exists on the Earth today is the same water that's been here for millions and millions of years. Water is probably the ultimate recyclable product. Water gets used and recycled by the environment daily thanks to an amazing process called the hydrologic cycle.

The Hydrologic Cycle Illustrated

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• First, water from the surface of the ocean evaporates and rises into the atmosphere. As the moist air rises, it cools and water vapor condenses to form clouds.
• The clouds drift around the earth and periodically release the water back to the surface as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.).
• Then, some of the water may evaporate back into the atmosphere and some of the water may penetrate the surface and become groundwater.
• Groundwater, some of which we use, eventually finds its way into the oceans, rivers, and streams, or is released back into the atmosphere through transpiration.
• When the water eventually finds its way back to the ocean, the cycle starts again.