In the United States, 83% of community water systems serve fewer than 50,000 people. Despite this high percentage, these smaller sized systems serve only 8% of the population. In comparison, the remaining 17% of community water systems consists of larger water systems that serve over 250 million people. The majority of community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people use ground water as their source. Most Americans are served by community water systems that serve greater than 100,000 people and use surface water as their  source.