Ch. 13 & 20 Flashcards
aquifers
porous, water-saturated layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock that can yield an economically significant amount of water
groundwater
water that sinks into the soil and is stored in slowly flowing and slowly renewed aquifers
hypoxic
inadequate oxygenation in the water
infiltration
downward movement of water through soil
leaching
process in which various chemicals in upper layers of soil are dissolved and carried to lower layers and to groundwater
precipitation
water in the form of rain, sleet, hail, and snow that falls from the atmosphere onto land and bodies of water
primary (sewage) treatment
mechanical sewage treatments in which large solids are filtered out by screens and suspended solids settle out as sludge in a sedimentation tank
remediation
the removal of pollution or contaminants from soil, groundwater, sediments, or surface water
reservoir
artificial lake created when a steam is dammed
secondary (sewage) treatment
second step in most waste treatment systems in which aerobic bacteria decompose as much as 90% of degradable, oxygen-demanding organic wastes in wastewater
surface water
precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground or return to the atmosphere by evaporation or transpiration
waste water
any water that has been adversely affected in quality
water pollution
any physical or chemical change in surface or groundwater that can harm living organisms or make water unfit for certain users
water table
upper surface of the zone of saturation in which all available pores in the soil and rock in the earth’s crust are filled with water
watershed
land area that delivers water, sediment, and dissolved substances via small streams to a major stream
