Elements in the world of Genshin are not as one might think. For example, Hydro does not mean water, it means hydro! Not all water contains hydro, and not all hydro manifests itself physically as water. Another common misconception is with Geo (it does not mean earth). While geo commonly exists within rocks and the earth, geo-energy is not "earth energy." Geo energy is how things resonate with each other and share memories. This is inherent to how Geo is tied to the celestial divine principle of Contract and Duty. In order to fulfill a contract, one must connect with the wishes of other people as well as remember the terms. This is the fundamental essence of geo, i.e. resonating with another and remembering your contract.
Elements behave similarly to nuclear radiation in our world. It can accumulate and condense, diffuse or break down, etc. Chosen allogenes are gifted divine visions as both a way to harness elemental energy as well as a form of protection against its harmful effects. Normal people without visions will become sick if exposed to too much elemental energy. Thus normal people avoid interacting with the elements beyond necessary and lack the means to manipulate them in the first place. When a vision holder calls upon their given element, their strong will is recognized by Celestia and it extracts elemental energy from "Lay Lines" which are ethereal pathways that connect all elemental energy sources in Teyvat. The energy then manifests in our physical world as another form of matter or energy, with a high concentration of elemental energy particles within it.
[So yes, if you tried to make a business selling water with your hydro vision without diffusing the energy, you could end up giving all your customers cancer.]