Chapter 4: Water and its Management Flashcards
Q: What percentage of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans?
A: 75%
Q: How much of the Earth’s water is contained in oceans and seas?
A: 97%
Q: What fraction of Earth’s water is fresh water?
A: 3%
Q: What percentage of Earth’s fresh water is found in ice sheets?
A: Nearly two-thirds (65%)
Q: What is precipitation?
A: Moisture that reaches the surface in the form of rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
Q: What is surface run-off?
A: Precipitation that flows over the ground surface into streams and rivers.
Q: What is the most common type of precipitation?
A: Rain
Q: What is interception in the context of the water cycle?
A: Precipitation that is obstructed by trees and plants and doesn’t reach the Earth’s surface.
Q: What is infiltration?
A: The process where precipitation soaks into sub-surface soils and moves into rocks.
Q: What is through-flow?
A: The downslope movement of water through the soil, roughly parallel to the ground surface.
Q: What is ground water flow?
A: The slow horizontal movement of water through rock.
Q: What is evaporation?
A: Water changing from droplets to water vapor due to heat.
Q: What is transpiration?
A: The evaporation or diffusion of water from plant leaves.
Q: What is a reservoir?
A: An artificial lake used as a source of water supply, created behind a dam or by the side of a river.
Q: What is condensation?
The process where water vapor is converted back into liquid or solid water due to a decrease in temperature.
Q: What is reverse osmosis?
A: Pumping water at high pressure through a fine membrane to remove salt.
Q: What is surface water?
A: Water found in lakes, rivers, and swamps.
Q: What is a well?
A: A hole bored or dug into rock to reach the water stored in it.
Q: What percentage of water is used domestically for drinking and cooking?
A: 3%
Q: What is ground water?
A: Water found in the soil and rocks beneath the surface of the ground.
Q: What is an artesian aquifer?
A: An aquifer where water is under pressure and rises to the surface without a pump.
Q: What is the role of a screening tank in sewage treatment?
A: To remove large objects from waste water.
Q: What are aquifers?
A: Water stored in porous rocks under the ground.
Q: What is potable water?
A: Water that is safe to drink.
Q: What is desalination?
A: The removal of salt from seawater.
Q: What is a service reservoir?
A: A reservoir where potable water is stored, such as a water tower or cistern.
Q: Why do urban areas have higher access to safe drinking water than rural areas?
A: Cities are wealthier, have better infrastructure, and people are closer together.
Q: How does distillation work?
A: Water is boiled, the vapor is condensed into liquid, leaving the salt behind.
Q: What is the primary agricultural use of water?
A: Irrigation
Q: In MEDCs, what percentage of domestic water is used for washing and flushing toilets?
A: 50%
Q: In MEDCs, what percentage of domestic water is used for washing clothes?
A: 20%
Q: What are the disadvantages of the Ramganga Dam?
A: Relocates people, floods land, disrupts aquatic life, can become redundant, and is expensive to build.
Q: What is a significant environmental issue with dams?
A: They can silt up and affect local ecosystems.
Q: What are the advantages of the Ramganga Dam?
A: Generates electricity, controls floods, provides irrigation, creates recreational land, and creates habitats.
Q: What is tertiary treatment in sewage processing?
A: Further filtering or chlorination to produce even cleaner effluent.
Q: What is economic water scarcity?
A: Lack of investment in water infrastructure or insufficient human capacity.
Q: What is sewage?
A: Waste matter rich in organic material that needs treatment.
Q: What is a multipurpose dam project?
A: A dam designed for multiple uses such as electricity generation, flood control, and irrigation
Q: What is cholera?
A: An intestinal infection causing severe diarrhea, dehydration, and potentially death.
Q: What is water scarcity?
A: Lack of sufficient fresh water resources to meet demands.
Q: What is physical water scarcity?
A: Not enough water to meet human and ecosystem demands.
Q: What are water-rich countries?
A: Countries with plentiful fresh water supplies, e.g., Russia, Canada, China.
Q: What is a major benefit of dams?
A: They provide renewable energy and maximize water storage capacity.
Q: How does acid rain affect aquatic life?
A: Lowers pH, disrupts fish reproduction, and leaches heavy metals into water.
Q: What is the impact of water pollution on rivers and lakes?
A: It reduces oxygen levels, harms aquatic life, and can cause illness.
Q: What is bioaccumulation?
A: The accumulation of a toxic chemical in the tissue of an organism.
Q: What are the sources of water pollution?
A: Sewage, domestic waste, industrial processes, and agricultural practices.
Q: What is acid rain?
A: Rainfall that has been made acidic by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere.
What is eutrophication?
A: The increase in nutrients in a water body leading to algae blooms and reduced oxygen levels.
Q: What is biomagnification?
A: The increase in concentration of a toxic substance in organisms at higher levels of the food chain.
Q: What is a key reason urban areas have more efficient water infrastructure compared to rural areas?
A: Cities have higher wealth and population density, making infrastructure development more feasible.
Q: What is primary treatment in sewage processing?
A: Solid organic matter settles at the bottom and is treated as sludge.
Q: What does chlorination do in water treatment?
A: It kills remaining pathogens in the water.
Q: How can sewage be treated?
A: Through screening, primary and secondary treatment, and tertiary treatment.
Q: What are strategies to control malaria?
A: Using mosquito nets, draining stagnant water, applying antimalarial drugs, and educating people.
Q: What is the purpose of coagulation in water treatment?
A: To remove particles from water by sticking them together.
Q: What is the role of mechanical pumps in water supply?
A: To raise water from wells or aquifers to the surface.
Q: What is the main goal of water pollution legislation?
A: To put pressure on polluters to reduce pollution and manage water resources effectively.
Q: How can cholera be prevented?
A: By ensuring proper sanitation, treating water, and avoiding contaminated sources.
Q: What is secondary treatment in sewage processing?
A: Water is exposed to oxygen to encourage the growth of bacteria that break down organic matter.
Q: What is a pit latrine?
A: A type of toilet that collects human faeces in a hole in the ground.
Q: What is the function of a sludge digester?
A: To break down sludge and produce methane for energy.
Q: What is an example of a service reservoir?
A: A water tower or cistern.
Q: What is a major disadvantage of distillation in desalination?
A: It uses a lot of energy and is only 10-30% efficient.
Q: What is a bi-national agreement for water quality?
A: An agreement like the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement that sets pollution limits.
Q: What is a composting toilet?
A: A dry toilet that uses materials like straw and sawdust to compost human waste.
Q: What is the life cycle of the malaria parasite?
A: The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes and affects the bloodstream.
Q: How can water-borne diseases be controlled?
A: By improving sanitation, treating sewage, and ensuring clean drinking water.
Q: What is malaria?
A: A life-threatening disease transmitted by infected Anopheles mosquitoes.
Q: What are the benefits of multipurpose dam projects?
A: They provide electricity, flood control, irrigation, recreation, and new habitats.
Q: Why might water-poor countries still receive high precipitation totals?
A: They are tiny island states with limited land area for rain to fall on.
Q: What percentage of efficiency is reverse osmosis in desalination?
A: 30-50% efficient.
Q: How can dams impact local ecosystems negatively?
A: They can disrupt aquatic life, flood land, and become redundant due to sediment build-up.
Q: What does the secondary treatment stage of sewage processing involve?
A: Pumping water into a tank where bacteria break down organic matter using oxygen.
Q: What is the main purpose of tertiary treatment in water treatment?
A: To further purify effluent through additional filtering or chlorination.
