One important factor in dealing with HC surface and ground water supplies is the differences in surface water flow and tributary ground water flow. In Nebraska, for example, stream-flow may move twenty-five miles per day or more, whereas ground water flow may be 300 feet per year.hen the aquifer is, say, twenty feet higher than the stream, the ground water will flow toward the stream more quickly than if the aquifer is only one foot higher than the stream.
Why Water Is Called the Universal Solvent Water dissolves more chemicals than any other solvent because its polar nature gives each molecule a hydophobic (water-fearing) and hydrophilic (water-loving) side.
Osmosis is a form of passive transport thatâs similar to diffusion and involves a solvent moving through a selectively permeable or semipermeable membrane from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. Solutions are composed of two parts: a solvent and a solute. 1  The solvent is the liquid in which a substance is dissolved; water is called the universal solvent because more materials dissolve in it than in any other liquid. 2  A solute is the substance dissolved in the solvent.