Question

Penelope sees that her brother Angelos is using water carelessly. She warns Angelos to be more careful because water is a renewable resource and can be used up since it takes millions of years to form. Angelos argues that water is a nonrenewable resource and cannot be used up since it can be replaced when it rains.

Which statement is correct in this scenario?

Penelope was correct when she said that water takes millions of years to form.
Penelope was correct when she said that water can be used up.
Angelos was correct when he said that water is a nonrenewable resource.
Angelos was correct when he said that water cannot

Answer 1

Best choice: Penelope was correct when she said that water can be used up.

Why: The global water supply cycles (evaporation, condensation, precipitation), so water as H2O is renewable. But usable freshwater — the freshwater in rivers, lakes, and accessible aquifers — can be depleted or polluted faster than it is replenished. Some groundwater (so‑called fossil water) does take thousands to millions of years to refill, so withdrawing it unsustainably effectively "uses it up" for human timescales. Angelos is wrong to claim water is simply nonrenewable or that it can't be used up; the correct statement is that water is renewable in a broad sense but some sources of usable freshwater can be effectively nonrenewable and therefore must be conserved.