ch4 assignment5

Question 1

define the term water pollution

Answer 1

•Any physical or chemical change in water that adversely affects the health of humans and other organisms

Question 2

define the term eutrophication

Answer 2

Enrichment of a water body with nutrients, resulting in excessive growth of phytoplankton, algae, or vascular plants, leading to depletion of oxygen.

Question 3

define DO

Answer 3

disolved oxygen

Question 4

define BOD

Answer 4

Biological Oxygen Demand…the amount of oxygen consumed by aquatic decomposers

Question 5

define dead zone

Answer 5

hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas in the world’s oceans and large lakes, caused by “excessive nutrient pollution from human activities coupled with other factors that deplete the oxygen required to support most marine life in bottom and near-bottom water.

Question 6

oligotrophic

Answer 6

•Unenriched, clear water that supports small populations of aquatic organisms

Question 7

eutrophic

Answer 7

• Slow-flowing stream, lake or estuary enriched by inorganic plant and algal nutrients such as phosphorus
• Often due to fertilizer or sewage runoff

Question 8

types of water pollution

Answer 8

• Sewage
• Disease-causing agents
• Sediment pollution
• Inorganic plant and algal nutrients
• Organic compounds
• Inorganic chemicals
• Radioactive substances
• Thermal pollution

Question 9

Sewage pollution cause

Answer 9

oThe release of wastewater from drains or sewers

•Includes human wastes, soaps, and detergents

Question 10

Sewage pollution effect

Answer 10

Enrichment

• •Fertilization of a body of water by high levels of plant and algal nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus)

Increase in Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

• •Amount of oxygen needed by microorganisms to decompose biological wastes
• •As BOD increases Dissolve Oxygen (DO) decreases

Question 11

Disease-causing Agents

Answer 11

oInfectious organisms that cause diseases

•Originate in the wastes of infected individuals

Question 12

Sediment Pollution cause

Answer 12

oExcessive amounts of suspended soil particles

•Originates from erosion of agricultural lands, forest soils exposed by logging, degraded stream banks, overgrazed rangelands, strip mines, and construction

Question 13

Sediment Pollution effects

Answer 13

• Limits light penetration
• Covers aquatic animals and plants
• Brings insoluble toxins into waterways

Question 14

Inorganic Plant and Algal Nutrients cause

Answer 14

Chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus that stimulate the growth of plants and algae

•Harmful in large concentrations

Sources:

•Human and animal wastes, plant residues, atmospheric deposition, and fertilizer runoff

Question 15

Inorganic Plant and Algal Nutrients effects

Answer 15

•Enrichment, bad odors, and a high BOD

Question 16

Organic Compounds causes

Answer 16

oChemicals that contain carbon atoms

Question 17

Inorganic Chemicals causes

Answer 17

oContaminants that contain elements other than carbon

Question 18

Radioactive Substances

Answer 18

Contain atoms of unstable isotopes that spontaneously emit radiation

Sources

• Mining
• Processing radioactive materials
• Nuclear power plants
• Natural sources

Question 19

Thermal Pollution causes

Answer 19

oOccurs when heated water produced during industrial processes is released into waterways

Question 20

Thermal Pollution effects

Answer 20

oOrganisms affected

• Temperature affects reproductive cycles, digestion rates, and respiration rates
• Warm water holds less DO than cold water

Question 21

Types of Water Pollution

Answer 21

• oPoint Source Pollution
  
  • •water pollution that can be traced to a specific origin
  • •Discharge via pipes, sewage, and ditches
• o-Non-point Source Pollution
  
  • •Pollutants that enter bodies of water over large areas rather than being concentrated at a single point of entry
  • •Diffuse, but its cumulative effect is very large
  • •Ex: runoff from agricultural fields or parking lots

Question 22

How do we measure water quality

Answer 22

• Dissolved Oxygen: BOD Biological Oxygen Demand…the amount of oxygen consumed by aquatic decomposers
• Chemical Analysis: looking for presence of inorganic or organic chemicals
• Suspended Sediment water clarity

Question 23

Municipal Sewage Treatment

Answer 23

• oPrimary treatment
  
  • •Removing suspended and floating particles by mechanical processes
• oSecondary treatment
  
  • •Treating wastewater biologically to decompose suspended organic material; reduces BOD
• oTertiary treatment
  
  • •Advanced wastewater treatment methods that are sometimes employed after primary and secondary treatments
  • •Reduce phosphorus and nitrogen
• oChlorination
  
  • •Particularly effective on viruses and pathogenic bacteria and nitrogen.