Images below are from: Open University (click for link) Earth's water is almost entirely saline (salty), and less than 3% is freshwater.
Of the freshwater, less than 1% is surface or atmospheric water, the rest is underground or frozen in glaciers and icecaps. Notice that water flows downwards with gravity. As water moves over the landscape and out to sea, it picks up minerals, and undergoes evaporation. This causes the water to become increasingly salty. Water is stored in basins, such as oceans, lakes and aquifers (groundwater). It can also be stored in plants and clouds. Water is transported through runoff, rivers, evaporation, precipitation, transpiration, etc. |