water supply

American  

noun

water supplies plural

1. the supply of purified water available to a community.

2. the facilities for storing and supplying this water, as reservoirs and pipelines.

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water supply British  

noun

1. an arrangement of reservoirs, purification plant, distribution pipes, etc, for providing water to a community

2. the supply of treated and purified water for a community

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• water-supply
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• water supplies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of water supply

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

In the past the village only would have only brief summer interruptions to the water supply to "one or two higher-lying streets", according to mayor Lajos Pinter.

From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026

O’Leary has said his project will return energy to the grid, create thousands of jobs, produce millions of dollars in tax revenue and won’t adversely affect the water supply.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026

“For us, it’s all about diversifying water supply, being more climate resilient and not being in a situation where drought is going to have such a severe impact on our customers,” Pedersen said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026

Rivers are starting to fall "notably" to "exceptionally low" in some parts of England with Thames Water, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water already noting stresses to water supply.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

When banking stops, credit stops, and when credit stops, trade stops, and when trade stops—well, the city of Chicago had only eight days of chlorine on hand for its water supply.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• water system
• waterworks