Depending on soil properties, precipitation water is partitioned into storage, groundwater  recharge, evapotranspiration, and surface runoff. Due to its porous structure, water can infiltrate into soil and is  retained there via capillary forces just like in a sponge, so that it is available for plant growth and the development of other organisms. This reduces droughts and the generation of floods. Solutes and particles moving through soil have to pass the extensive inner surfaces of soil  constituents where they might be sorbed or transformed. Hence, soils are also important to  filter harmful substances, originating from industrial and agricultural production, municipal  activities, or atmospheric deposits.