DVD

A huge bottled-water industry has recently emerged, with the U.S. its largest consumer. But is bottled water actually healthier, safer, or tastier than tap water? A water expert explains that bottled water does not meet the same strict standards in the U.S. as water from the tap, though tap-water quality can vary among communities.

Despite its wonders, Earth's water cycle does not spread water evenly around the planet. The Ogallala Aquifer’s huge underground reservoir of water gives the relatively dry Central Plains states such as Nebraska a large but limited irrigation source. But the aquifer's water is being used up faster than it is beng replenished.

The Rio Grande is one of our longest rivers, its Texas section forming the border between the U.S and Mexico. Competing human claims for it are viewed through the eyes of two young women: a whitewater rafting guide in upstream New Mexico and a teenager downstream near El Paso.

Drinking polluted water can cause many deadly diseases, especially in children of poor countries around the world. We see the crystal-clear water in a flowing Peruvian rainforest river but are amazed to learn that it is unsafe, due to runoff entering the great connected network of tributaries that flow into the Amazon, the world’s largest source of fresh water.

Polluted waters can have damaging economic and social effects as well as destroy wildlife habitats. Chesapeake Bay is one of the most polluted bodies of water in America, but local students are working with commercial crab catchers and scientists in the Baltimore area to help restore its health.