8 Water Sanitation and Hygiene/Hazardous Waste Flashcards
Brief definitions of terms
Definitions of terms in reading assignment
Water Quality: The nature and properties of a water that make it acceptable or unacceptable for its intended purpose.
Water Pollution: A change in water quality that negatively affects the living organisms that live in and use this water.
Definition of “sanitation” that refers specifically to human waste (do not use vague definitions that omit reference to human waste)
Definition of “hygiene” that refers specifically to germs/pathogens (do not use vague definitions that omit reference to germs/pathogens)
Sanitation: For a household, … provision and ongoing operation and maintenance of a safe and easily accessible means of disposing of human excreta, garbage, and wastewater, and providing an effective barrier against waste-related and waterborne diseases.
Hygiene: to interrupt the pathway by which infectious organisms are transferred from one person or animal to a second person or animal.
Water pollution
What are some major sources of pollution to groundwater, rivers, and lakes – define and give examples of “point” sources and “non-point” sources
Groundwater: nitrate contamination from septic systems, nitrate from fertilizers added to agricultural land, organic pollutants from leaking storage containers
Rivers: siltation, nutrient concentration (nitrogen and phosphorus), fecal coliform bacteria, and low dissolved oxygen levels caused by high organic content
Lakes: agricultural runoff, habitat modification, storm runoff, and municipal sewage effluent. eutrophication (the excessive growth of aquatic algae and other plants) caused by high levels of nutrients
Point sources: sewage plants, coal mines, oil wells
Non-point sources: Farm fields, construction sites, roads
What are a few examples of infectious diseases that can be spread by contaminated water?
Giardiasis: giardia parasite
Shigellosis, an infectious bacteria
Norovirus, often spread in water
Hepatitis A, a virus
Cryptosporidiosis, a disease caused by a parasite that is tolerant to chlorine
High levels of the metal copper, causing vomiting and nausea. Very high levels can cause severe disease or death
La Horca case study (in class)
What commitment would ENACAL (Nicaragua national water company) require of any village that wanted help establishing access to clean water?
ENACAL’s approach: “a village keen on water would not be assisted unless they made a commitment to sanitation as well.”
La Horca established a local community sanitation committee. Why? List at least three problems with water/sanitation/hygiene infrastructure and culture that could be better prevented or solved with the involvement of local leadership rather than relying completely on national-level or international-level leadership and aid
So they would care for and service the system if it ever had problems or needed to be maintained. They were motivated for pay and purpose to keep these facilities nice and usable making this intervention very effective. People to be invested in maintaining these health benefiting facilities.
Brief definitions of terms
Definitions of terms in reading assignment
Hazardous Waste: “a liquid, solid, sludge, or containerized gas waste substance that due to its quantity, concentration, or chemical properties may cause significant threats to human health or the environment if managed improperly.”
EPA classifications/categories of hazardous waste
By properties of hazardous material
By source of hazardous material
How do we know if a waste is ignitable?
Flashpoint of less than 140 degrees fahrenheit, flammable through friction or chemical reaction under normal temp and pressure, burns vigorously and uncontrollably creating a hazard, ignitable compressed gas, classified as an oxidizer.
How do we know if a waste is corrosive?
“an aqueous waste with a pH equal to or less than 2.0 or greater than 12.5, or a liquid that will corrode carbon steel at a rate greater than 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) per year”
How do we know if a waste is reactive?
a substance which is normally unstable and undergoes violent physical or chemical change without being detonated; a substance that reacts violently with water (for example, sodium metal); a substance that forms a potentially explosive mixture when mixed with water; a substance that can generate harmful gases, vapors, or fumes when mixed with water; a cyanide- or sulfide-bearing waste that can generate harmful gases, vapors, or fumes when exposed to pH conditions between 2.0 and 12.5; a waste that, when subjected to a strong initiating source or when heated in confinement, will detonate or generate an explosive reaction; a substance that is readily capable of detonation at standard temperature and pressure.”
How do we know if a waste is toxic?
“has the properties such that an aqueous extract contains contamination in excess of that allowed (e.g., arsenic greater than 5 milligrams per liter, barium greater than 0.1 milligrams per liter, cadmium greater than 1 milligrams per liter, chromium greater than 5 milligrams per liter, lead greater than 5 milligrams per liter). Additional codes under toxicity include an acute hazardous waste with code H, a substance that has been found to be fatal to humans in low doses or has been found to be fatal in corresponding human concentrations in laboratory animals. Toxic waste (hazard code T) designates wastes that have been found through laboratory studies to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic to humans or other life forms.”
What are the 5 processes involved in monitored natural attenuation?
Biodegradation occurs when very small
organisms, known as “microbes,” eat contaminants
and change them into small amounts of water
and gases during digestion. Microbes live in
soil and groundwater and some microbes use
contaminants for food and energy. (A Citizen’s
Guide to Bioremediation [EPA 542-F-12-003]
describes how microbes work.)
* Sorption causes contaminants to stick to
soil particles. Sorption does not destroy the
contaminants, but it keeps them from moving
deeper underground or from leaving the site with
groundwater flow.
* Dilution decreases the concentrations of
contaminants as they move through and mix with
clean groundwater.
* Evaporation causes some contaminants, like
gasoline and industrial solvents, to change from
liquids to gases within the soil. If these gases
escape to the air at the ground surface, air will
dilute them and sunlight may destroy them.
* Chemical reactions with natural substances
underground may convert contaminants into
less harmful forms. For example, in low-oxygen
environments underground, the highly toxic
“chromium 6” can be converted to a much less
toxic and mobile form called “chromium 3” when
it reacts with naturally occurring iron and water.
What does BTEX stand for?
Petroleum Hydrocarbons: occur naturally in natural oil/gases
Benzene
Toluene
Ethylbenzene
Xylenes
Hazardous waste pollution
What is a “Superfund” site?
This legislation deals with the treatment and liability for these contaminated sites, the most seriously polluted of which are designated as Superfund sites.
holding polluters accountable for cleanup of high-priority sites. Under the Superfund program, over 10,000 toxic dumpsites have been identified across the United States.
What does “cradle to grave” responsibility mean in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)?
They are in charge of containing waste from the moment it is created until the moment it is destroyed or made non hazardous.
JJJ and McPherson sites case study (in class)
Be able to use ATSDR Toxic Substances Portal to look up human health effects of toxins
On CDC website
Be able to describe/interpret what you are seeing in a “groundwater contour” map
ground water contour map maps the flow of groundwater towards smaller numbers on map
