Final answer:
The greatest amount of freshwater is stored in glaciers and ice caps, with glaciers accounting for 68.7% and groundwater for 30.1% of all freshwater on Earth. Surface water, including lakes and rivers, contains just a small percentage of the world's freshwater.
Step-by-step explanation:
When comparing the amounts of freshwater in various reservoirs, such as lakes, rivers, below ground, and glaciers, the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth is found in glaciers and ice caps. The statistics show that icecaps and glaciers contain about 68.7% of the world's freshwater, while groundwater makes up about 30.1%. In contrast, surface waters, which include lakes and rivers, only account for a small fraction of freshwater, with lakes holding approximately 0.3% of all freshwater (87% of which is in lakes) and rivers accounting for about 2% of surface freshwater. Despite the heavy reliance on rivers and lakes for human use, they represent just a tiny portion of the world's total water supply.