When water is used the water is not lost as it is constantly recycled.
Even when you drink water then you eventually pee it out which then returns to the water cycle as well.
The water that you use in sinks, tubs, showers, washing machines etc also all goes down the drain and either into a septic system where it gets returned to the ground or to a sewer treatment plant where the water is treated and then released back onto the ground or into a river etc.
Plants that suck of water also release it back into the air even when you don't see it.
When rain falls to the ground it's called precipitation.
Rain falls from clouds and the rain gets into the clouds through evaporation such as from lakes, streams, oceans and other surfaces.
Once the water fills the clouds and the clouds go over an area the clouds release the rain where it falls to the ground.
The rain most often seeps into the ground to become ground water but some of the rain can also flow over the ground and through creeks, streams, lakes etc.
Groundwater forms when water from the surface seeps into the ground.
This process is called recharge.
The water is able to move underground through the rock and soil due to connected pore spaces.
Water wells are drilled into the ground or dug into the ground to reach the groundwater.
Well pumps are then most often used to pump the water from the ground to the surface.
Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Precipitation is the main way atmospheric water returns to the surface of the Earth.
Most precipitation falls as rain.
After reaching the ground rainwater becomes either surface or subsurface water.
Surface water travels on top of the ground.
Subsurface water soaks into the soil and travels throughout the soil.
Sometimes if the air is dry enough at low levels of the atmosphere, it won't quite reach the surface.
The phenomenon that appears instead is called virga.
Virga is defined as, “streaks or wisps of precipitation falling from a cloud but evaporating before reaching the ground.”
As a cloud fills up with water drops or ice crystals, it starts to get heavy.
Sooner or later gravity takes over, and pulls the water back to earth.
It rains, or it snows.