Drinking Water Flashcards

1
Q

Explain the Water History.

A

1854: JOhn Snow and the Broad Street Pum
1870: Germ theory verified (Pasteur, Leewenhoek, et al.)
1908: Chick’s Law of Disinfection
1908: First U.S. cities, Jersey City and Chicago, chlorinate municipal drinking water
1914: First U.S. drinking water standards by Public Health Service (voluntary). Focus on pathogens, aesthetics.
1919: Method for controlled chlorination developed by Abel Wolman and Linn Enslow
1974: Safe Drinking Water Act enacted by EPA (biological and chemical)

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2
Q

What is the Problem with Water?

A
  • In U.S. people drink `2.5 liters/day (0.66 gallons)
  • it is necessary to survive
  • human body is 70% water
  • We cook in it, bathe in it
  • Potential for chemical, biological, and physical agents to contaminate drinking water
  • limited water for use
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3
Q

Explain Global Water Use.

A
  • Water covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, but <1% is available for human use
  • Water needed for agriculture, commercial use, industrial use, residential use, environment/ecosystems
  • Across the globe, water consumption has tripled in the last 50 years
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4
Q

What is the minimum volume of water needed to survive?

A

1.3 gallons per day

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5
Q

How much water does the average person in the U.S. use per day?

A

~100 gallons (drinking, cooking, bathing, and watering their yard)

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6
Q

Explain the Water Use in the U.S.

A
  • Average person uses about 100 gallons (about 400 liters) of water per day
  • Average residence uses over 100,000 gallons (about 400,000 liters) during a typical year
  • 30-50% is used for outdoor purposes such as watering lawns and washing cars
  • 50-70% used indoors, mainly bathroom use
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7
Q

What are the Sources of Freshwater?

A
  • Ground water
  • Surface water
  • Run-off
  • Glaciers/ice
  • Oceans and brackwish waters
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8
Q

What is Ground Water?

A

water stored naturally underground or that flows through rock or soil, supplying springs and wells and is less susceptible to contamination

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9
Q

What is Surface Water?

A

Water from lakes, streams, rivers, and surface springs without contamination by a variety of human, animal, and industrial sources and usually requires extensive purification

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10
Q

What is Run-off water?

A

Water originating as precipitation that runs off land into rivers, steams, lakes, and oceans, unless it evaporates first

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11
Q

What is Glaciers/ice?

A

10% of the world’s landmasses, ~70% of the world’s freshwater

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12
Q

What is Oceans and brackish waters?

A

It is costly to desalinate

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13
Q

What is Aquifer?

A

layer or section of earth or rock that contains groundwater

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14
Q

What is Reservoir?

A

artificial lakes produced by construction barriers across rivers

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15
Q

Explain Hydrological (Water) Cycle.

A
  • Natural cycle by which water evaporates from oceans and other water bodies, accumulates as water vapor in clouds, and returns to oceans and other water bodies as precipitation
  • Renewable water
  • Nonrenewable water
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16
Q

What is Renewable water?

A

freshwater continuously replenished by the hydrological cycle for withdrawal within reasonable time limits, such as water is rivers, lakes, or resevoirs that fill from precipitation or from runoff

17
Q

What is non-renewable water?

A

water in aquifers and other natural resevoirs not recharged by the hydrological cycle or rechached so slowly that significant withdrawal for human use causes depletion

18
Q

What are some Water Availability Facts?

A
  • although the earth’s surface (70%) ia covered largely by water, most of this water is unusable water.
  • approximately 3% of all water is freshwater, of which the majority is unavailable for human use (e.g., frozen in icecaps).
  • remaining 1% of readily accessible water comes from surface freshwater; sources include lakes, rivers, and shallow underground aquifers
19
Q

Why Not Desalinate?

A
  • Consumes large amounts of energy
  • Requires specialized, expensive infrastructure
20
Q

List some Water Facts.

A
  • One flush of a Western toilet uses as much water as the average person in the developing world uses for a whole day’s washing, drinking, cleaning and cooking
  • Water use has grown at twice the rate of population during the past century. The Middle Wast, North Africa, and South Asia are chronically short of water.
  • In developing countries, as much as 90% of wastewater is discharged without treatment
21
Q

Explain the Overall Basic Water Requirement.

A

Minimum standard to meet 4 basic needs is 0.05 m^3 to 0.1m^3 ( 13 to 26 allons) per person per day (WHO)

  • drinking
  • sanitation
  • bathing
  • cooking

In Africa women and girls spend 40 billion person-hours a year hauling water

22
Q

Explain the Water Stress Index.

A
  • Water stress: 1,000-1,700 m^3 renewable frsh water per person per year (~250,000 to 450,000 gallons) (for all uses- agricultural, industrial, commercial)
  • Water Scarcity: <1,000 m^3 ( ~250,000 gallons) renewable fresh water per person per year
  • Water Scarcity: lack of access to water to meet basic minimum daily needs (WHO)
  • Globally, water scarcity affects in 1 in 4 people (WHO)
23
Q

Explain the Consequences of Limited Water Supply.

A
  • Higher water prices to ensure continued access to a reliable and safe supply
  • Increased summer watering restrictions to manage shortages
  • Seasonal loss of recreational areas like lakes and rivers when the human demand for water conflicts with environmental needs
  • Expensive water treatment projects to transport and store freshwater when local demand overcomes available capacity
24
Q

Name 3 types of Water Pollution.

A
  • Chemical
  • Biological
  • Physical
25
Q

List some examples of Chemical Water Pollution.

A

pesticides, detergents, acids, metals, fertilizers (nitrates, phosphates)

26
Q

List some examples of Biological Water Pollution.

A

microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, protozoa

27
Q

List some examples of Physical Water Pollution.

A

radioactive substances, heat

28
Q

List some Sources of Water Pollution

A
  • agriculture
  • industry
  • municipalities
29
Q

Explain why Agriculture is the Biggest Poluter.

A
  • fertilizers- eutrophication (algae grows so much it blocks sunligh)
  • pesticides
  • animal wastes
  • eroded sediment
  • farming is responsible for 70% of current water pollution in the US
30
Q

Explain Industrial Pollution.

A
  • 200 to 400 major chemicals contaminate the world’s rivers
  • 80,000 different chemical substances are in use
  • SOx and NOx from acid rain -> fish kills, release heavy metals
  • heavy metals and organochlorinesleached from industrial dump sites
  • petroleum byproducts and organic chemicals (from dry cleaners, service stations, and leaking underground storage tanks)
31
Q

What is Municipal Pollution?

A
  • Oils and salts washed off city streets
  • Heavy metals and organochlorines leached from municipal dump sites
  • persistant organic pollutants
  • chemicals used in the home (solvents, paints, used motor oil, lead and copper)
  • Microbial pathogens (from human wastes
32
Q

What is the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)?

A
  • passed by Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s water supply
  • this law was amended in 1986 & 1996
  • authorizes the USEPA to sent national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants be found in drinking water
33
Q

List more facts about Safe Drinking Water Act.

A
  • SDWA applies to every public water system in the US

A public water system must have at least 15 service connections or serve at least 25 people per day for 60 days of the year

  • 190,000 public water systems
  • 55,000 Community wter systems (cities, towns, mobile home parks)
  • 135,000 Non-community water systems (schools, rest areas, campgrounds)
34
Q

Explain EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act (1974).

A

Sets legal limits- Maximum Contaminant Levels

  • refeclts human health protection AND
  • Level that water systems can achieve using the best available technology

Designed to protective, but children and immunocompromised could still be at risk

More than 90 contaminants have MCLs