Chapter 15 Flashcards
What are wetlands and riparians?
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil for a period of time. Riparians are riverside banks of vegetation and forest area
Benefits of wetlands and riparians?
- High in nutrients -> inc plants and BD
- prevents saltwater from spreading -> inc or save BD
- habitat-> food -> mates -> babies
- filters pollutants -> saves BD
- slow release of stored water -> prevents floods -> minimizes habitat destruction -> saves BD
What is desalination?
Removal of salt from water
Two processes of desalination
- distillation: heating up water and removing salt
- Reverse osmosis: forcing water through a membrane to remove salt
- Both are expensive
Pond zones
- Littoral: shallow water/plants; high BD; light -> PS
- Limnetic: top middle portion of the pond; light -> PS -> DO
- Profunal: no light/PS; low DO; few organisms
- Benthic: no light/PS; low DO; decomposers, catfish
River Zones
- Source: cold, clear, shallow, high DO
- Transitional
- Flood plain: warmer, turbid, lower DO, deeper
What is a dam?
An obstruction that blocks water and creates a reservoir
Positive effects of a dam
+ creates clean renewable energy -> reduces fossil fuels/air pollution (CO2 - ghg, nox and sox - acid rain)
+ flood control -> reservoir stores water in rainy conditions
+ new recreation opportunities -> boosts local economy
+
Negative effects of dams
- Population displacement -> clear land -> low bd
- habitat alterations -> plants destroyed -> reduced food -> extirpation
Irrigation techniques
- Drip irrigation: pipes in or on soil/ release small amounts of water
- Center pivot irrigation: rotate and release small amounts of water
Eutrophication process
- Excess nutrients (n/p pollution from fert and anml waste into water)
- Algae boom -> aquatic plants grow
- Algae and plants die -> go to bottom
- Decomposers use DO during decomp -> hypoxia -> fish kills -> decrease BD
Ways to prevent lessen eutrophication
- Use detergents without phosphates
- use good irrigation to reduce runoff on farms
- reduce fertilizer use
What are Aquifers and groundwater
Aquifer: porous rock that holds ground water (percolation)
Groundwater: water that is collected underground through percolation
What is pollution caused by?
Humans - anthropogenic
What is point and non-point pollution?
Point is easily identified - ex: car leaking gasoline; sewage drain
Non-point comes from multiple sources; hard to identify - ex: storm drain; acid rain
What is the process of primary treatment of water?
- physical process
- screen removes large floating objects (cans, bags, trash)
- settling/ sedimentation tank: alum is added, makes particles coagulate (waste sand rocks)
- sludge: bacteria, solids, chemicals and metal disposed into landfills or used as fertilizers
What is the process of secondary treatment?
- biological process
- aeration tank: bioremediation, suspended organic waste, phosphates and nitrates; also known as activated sludge tank
- sludge disposed
What is the process of tertiary treatment?
- Chemical and physical process
- coal/sand filters removes additional p and n
- disinfection: cl, O3, and UV rays kill off bacteria and viruses
- sludge disposed and effluent released
Why is effluent not safe to drink?
It’s not 100%
There could be pharmaceuticals still in it
What’s important about wastewater treatment?
Creates clean drinking water/ protects BD if released into environment
How do we clean up and prevent groundwater pollution?
Clean up
1. Pump to surface, clean and return to aquifer
2. Bioremediation: inject bacteria to break down chemicals
Prevention
• use eco-friendly cleaners
• monitor wells to determine where contamination is moving
• ban hazardous waste in sanitary landfills
What are some effects of overconsumption of groundwater?
- depletes aquifers
- creates spontaneous sinkholes
- salt water intrusion
- wetland ecosystems dry up
What is the clean water act?
- need permit to pollute from a point source
- discharge trading policy: polluters must buy permits to pollute (can be sold and traded)
- EPA set standards for waste water contaminates levels and fund sewage treatment plants
