Chapter 17 - Water Pollution Flashcards
What is the definition of pollutant?
A substance found in a high enough concentration in some setting that it creates a nuisance or hazard.
What is known as resident time?
It is a measure of how rapidly a mineral cycles through reservoirs.
What is a steady-state situation?
It is when the quantity of substance in a reservoir stays approximately constant.
What is a dose-response curve?
It is a graph illustrating the relative benefit or harm of a trace element or other substance as function of the dosage.
What is a point-source?
They are sources from which pollutants are released at one readily identifiable spot.
What is a nonpoint source?
It is a more diffuse manner of pollution (fertilizers, acid drainage, or sodium and calcium chloride from road salts).
What is aerobic decomposition?
It is decomposition that occurs when there is ample amounts of oxygen in a body of water, and it is facilitated by aerobic organisms.
What is anaerobic decomposition?
It is the only alternative for decomposition once there is no longer oxygen, it releases noxious gases.
What does biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) measure?
It is the measure of the amount of oxygen required to breakdown organic matter aerobically.
What is an oxygen sag curve?
It is a graph of dissolved-oxygen content as a function of distance from the waste source that shows sharp depletion near the source, recovering downstream.
What is eutrophication?
It is when surface run off containing extra nutrients from fertilizers enters a body of water.
What does sediment pollution cause?
It is a cause for the amount of light in a body of water, affecting the flora and fauna within the water.
What metals are included in the classification of heavy metals and what is a common characteristic?
Lead, Calcium, Plutonium and mercury. They all tend to accumulate in the bodies of organisms that ingest them.
What is known as bioaccumulation?
It is when a heavy metal is accumulated within a living organism that has ingested it, and it works its way up the food chain.
What is known as thermal pollution?
The release of excess or waste heat, it is a byproduct of the generation of power.
