A reservoir of low-salt water has recently been discovered that could be a turning point for the future of humanity on planet Earth. According to the most recent estimates, the gigantic underwater aquifer is located off the coast of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York, and also extends toward Delaware. A group of researchers from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution used electromagnetic imaging techniques to scan the ocean floor.
It has been possible to distinguish freshwater from saltwater and map a vast, continuous aquifer
According to the data, what they found contains approximately 2,800 cubic kilometers of low-salinity water, an amount equivalent to nearly 1.1 billion Olympic-sized swimming pools. Thanks to technological advances and research, it has been possible to distinguish freshwater from saltwater and map a vast, continuous aquifer that stretches from Massachusetts to New Jersey. The large reservoir contains 2,800 cubic kilometers of low-salinity water, a volume equivalent to nearly 1.1 billion Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Chloe Gustafson, author of the research, said: “We knew freshwater was there in isolated locations, but we didn’t know its extent or geometry. It could become an important resource in other parts of the world.” According to the latest data from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, around 2.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed drinking water.
The region most affected by the lack of clean drinking water is sub-Saharan Africa
Scientists are conducting further tests on the water to determine what process caused these offshore groundwater reservoirs to form. This will help determine whether they are stagnant or replenishing. Keep in mind that currently, the region most affected by the lack of clean drinking water is sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people rely on untreated water sources. Therefore, this discovery could be unprecedented.
The expedition that discovered the underwater deposit began its investigation in the summer of 2025. Focusing on an area between New Jersey and Maine, they used specialized drilling rigs to extract thousands of water samples from porous sediments beneath the seafloor. Researchers aren’t entirely sure how the freshwater got to its current state. They did indeed find freshwater, an anomaly in a region where only saltwater would be expected.
This finding suggests that the water could have been connected to terrestrial systems in the past or may still be
In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, they speculate that it could be the result of a glacial process when sea levels were low and continental shelves were exposed during the last Ice Age, or that the structure could be connected to terrestrial hydrological systems. According to Brandon Dugan, a geophysicist and one of the lead members of the expedition, this finding suggests that the water could have been connected to terrestrial systems in the past or may still be.
UN: Demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40% in the next five years
The next step is to track the DNA extracted from the samples, identify which microorganisms are present, and try to understand how they managed to survive. This is essential because there are several risks involved in extracting water and using it to supply hard-to-reach areas. Extracting water from the ocean floor and bringing it to land will be complicated and expensive, and there is also the issue of ownership of this resource. There is also the possibility of contaminating aquifers when extracting water from them. Saltwater, both surface and groundwater, could seep in; just as if they are connected to terrestrial aquifers, extracting water from marine areas could cause saltwater to poison terrestrial areas.
Therefore, the process may be complex. But there is great hope, given that, according to the United Nations, demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40% in the next five years.
