(Picture from - http://clevergreen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/polluted-drinking-water-300x248.jpg)
Groundwater is a huge source of drinking water, especially in the United States, where roughly fifty percent of the entire population rely on it for their water. These statistics alone should tell you that polluted ground water would cause many issues.
According to research in 2009, over 140 million people in southern Asia drink arsenic contaminated water, which can kill if to much is consumed, and over half of all 660 of Chinese cities have polluted water supplies, and the large (and growing) population is draining what water they do have. With rapid urbanization, or the growing of cities, and the severe damage being done to the environment, it's difficult to keep track of what's happening to your water until it's too late. Researchers are testing new ways to detoxify the water, or to rid it of toxins, like using microbial organisms to consume the toxic biological material and this results in a safer water supply. But all of the research will be in vain if the people in areas suffering from this issue don't change their ways.
Cleaning up the water isn't the only step that needs to be made, though; people in these areas need to clean up their act. Pollution is not strictly man made, but adding it together with the natural pollutants isn't doing anything to help. Oil, paints, and other chemicals that are absorbed into the ground during recharging are mixed in with the water, and can mix so well that it can't be traced back to the water source until an autopsy, and by then, more people would have become victim to poisoned water.
(Sources)
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