Environmental Engineering Flashcards
national water and air pollution control commission
RA 3931
maintain reasonable standards of purity of waters and air of this country with their utilization for domestic, agricultural, industrial and other legitimate purposes
RA 3931
control of toxic substances and hazardous and nuclear waste
RA 6969
control, supervise, and regulate activities on toxic chemicals and hazardous waste
RA 6969
ecological solid waste management act of 2000
RA 9003
provides a systematic, comprehensive, ecological solid waste management program in the country
RA 9003
extended produces responsibility act of 2022
RA 11898
focus on waste reduction, recovery and recycling, and the development of environment-friendly products
RA 11898
Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999
RA 8749
states that the right to breathe clean air and polluters must pay
RA 8749
comprehensive air quality management policy and program which aims to achieve and maintain healthy air for all filipinos
RA 8749
Philippines Clean Water Act of 2004
RA 9275
aims to protect the country’s water bodies from pollution from land-based sources; provides for a comprehensive and integrated strategy to prevent and minimize pollution
RA 9275
policy from RA 9275; provide general guidelines for the classification of water bodies in the country
DAO 2016-08 Water Quality Guidelines (WQG) and General Effluent Standards (GES) of 2016
Climate Change Act of 2009
RA 9279
mainstreaming climate change into government policy formulations, establishing the framework strategy and program on climate change, creating for this purpose the climate change commission
RA 9279
Environmental Impact Statement System
PD 1586
to attain and maintain a rational and orderly balance between socio-economic growth and environmental protection
PD 1586
to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion
montreal protocol
aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
stockholm convention
known as “forever chemicals”, organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes
persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
accumulation of a toxic chemical in the tissue of a particular organism
bioaccumulation
refers to the increased concentration of a toxic chemical
biomagnification
operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets
Kyoto Protocol
central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 deg C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 deg C
Paris Agreement
a process that involves predicting and evaluating the likely impacts of a project on the environment during construction, commissioning, operation, and abandonment
Environmental Impact Assessment
processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency
Environmental Management Systems
The __ pertains to environment management systems
ISO 14000 series
a systematic analysis of the potential environmental impacts of a good or service over the entire period of its life
Life Cycle Assessment
materials and resources consumed in the process
inputs
losses and emissions accumulated along the production process
outputs
generic term used to describe things that are thrown away (has no value)
solid waste
using less material in manufacturing
prevention
repairing items or parts
preparing for re-use
including composting
recycling
energy recovery from anaerobic digestion, thermal treatment, and landfill gas
other recovery
landfilling or incineration without energy recovery
disposal
reprocessing of wastes to recover an original raw
recycling
facilitates recovery of recyclable materials
material recovery facility
the controlled decomposition of organic materials, such as leaves, grass, food scraps, by microorganisms
composting
a chemical reaction in which the elements in the fuel (solid waste) are oxidized in the presence of excess oxygen
combustion
thermal processing of material in the absence of oxygen
pyrolysis
partial combustion in which a fuel is burned with less than a stoichiometric amount of oxygen
gasification
a land disposal site employing an engineered method of disposing of solid wastes on land in a manner that minimizes environmental hazards by spreading the solid wastes to the smallest practical volume, and applying and compacting cover material at the end of each day
landfill
liquid that passes through the landfill, extracts dissolved and suspended matter from the waste material
leachate
waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment
hazardous waste
substances that can create fire under certain conditions
ignitability
substances that pH values <2 and >12.5
corrosivity
substances that may be unstable under normal conditions, react with water, detonate
reactivity
substances that may be harmful when ingested or absorbed
toxicity
excavated or diked areas used to store liquid hazardous wastes
surface impoundments
cheap method of disposal whereby wastes are pumped into geologically secure formations, well below drinking water aquifers
deep well injection
an ultimate resting place
landfilling
non-containerized accumulation of solid hazardous waste used for temporary storage
waste piles
water that has percolated downward from the ground surface through the soil pores
groundwater
formations of soil and rock that have become saturated with water; groundwater reservoirs
aquifers
rivers and lakes withdrawn to supply public water supplies
surface water
conversion of saltwater to freshwater; needs desalination
seawater
water that has been treated sufficiently for direct reuse in industry and agriculture and for limited municipal applications
reclaimed wastewater
collected by a network of pipes or channels and conveyed to a single point of discharge into the receiving water
point source
includes domestic sewage along with any industrial wastes that are permitted to be discharged into the sanitary sewers
municipal sewage
urban and agricultural runoff that are characterized by multiple discharge points
non-point source
nonpoint pollution from urban storm water
combined sewers
class of compounds that are applied externally or ingested by humans, pets, and other domesticated animals
pharmaceutical and personal care products
particles that have a dimension less than 100 nm
nanoparticles
the property of water that tends to scatter and absorb light rays due to the presence of small suspended particles
turbidity
the property of water that dictates survival of aquatic life forms; affects the solubility of O2
temperature
the property of water that may be caused by dissolved or suspended colloidal particles from decaying leaves and microscopic plants
color
the property of water that causes it to be unpalatable
taste
the property of water that causes unpleasant smell, maybe due to the presence of H2S
Odor
commonly used indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water
coliforms
tests for coliforms
membrane filter method, multiple-tube fermentation method
amount of oxygen dissolved in water
dissolved oxygen
amount of oxygen needed by microbes for the biochemical reactions that sustain them
biochemical oxygen demand
process of converting ammonia into more stable nitrite and nitrate forms of nitrogen
Nitration
measures all organics; measured by strong oxidizing agent, sulfuric acid and heat
chemical oxygen demand
the amount of oxygen required to oxidize a substance to CO2 and H2O that may be calculated by stoichiometry if the chemical composition of the substance is known
theoretical oxygen demand
used to express the properties of certain highly mineralized waters
hardness
don’t cause health problems
Fe, Mn
impart bitter taste
Fe2+, Mn2+
cause brown or black stains on laundry and plumbing fixtures
Fe3+, Mn3+
nontoxic in small concentration but cause undesirable taste
Cu and Zn
contribute to good dental health in moderate amount of excessive amount causes mottled or discolored teeth
fluorides
causes salty taste at high concentration and may be an indication of sewage pollution at 500 ppm concentration in fresh water
chlorides
toxic in gaseous form, but not when diluted in aqueous solutions
chlorine residual
occur in natural water and in wastewater but no significant public health danger
sulfates
occurs in many forms taking part in many biochemical reactions
nitrogen and phosphorus
caused by dissolved CO2 in water
acidity
caused by presence of dissolved carbonates, bicarbonates, Na, Ca, and Mg
alkalinity
disease caused by exposure to silver dust
argyria
bone pain related to Ca loss (due to Cd exposure) in Japan
Itai-itai disease
mercury poisoning in japan
minamata disease
lead poisoning in devon england
devon colic
highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water
maximum contaminant level
wastewater treatment: removal of large debris (screening)
preliminary
wastewater treatment: removal of suspended solids prior to discharge; use of fine screens, simple sedimentation, flocculation
primary
wastewater treatment: removal of soluble and colloidal organic matter not removed in primary treatment; biological processes
secondary
wastewater treatment: encompasses techniques applied to remove the quality of wastewater after secondary treatment
advanced
to retain solids found in wastewater and to protect downstream plant appurtenances from clogging
screening
grind up coarse solids in raw wastewater without removing them from flow
communitors
a technique used to overcome the operational problems caused by variations in influent-wastewater flowrate
flow equalization
chemicals are quickly and uniformly dispersed in the water
mixing
used to change the surface charge on the particles so they can stick together to form larger particles that will settle by gravity
coagulation
precipitates are brought in contact with one another so they can form flocs
flocculation
separation from water, by gravitational settling, of suspended particles that are heavier than water
sedimentation
unit operation used to separate solid or liquid from a liquid phase; removal of very small or light particles that settle slowly in a shorter time
flotation
used extensively for achieving supplemental removals of suspended solid and BOD after biochemical treatments
filtration
consists of a bed of highly permeable medium to which microorganisms are attached and through which wastewater is percolated or trickled
trickling filters
involves production of an activated mass of microbes capable of stabilizing waste aerobically
activated sludge
process consists of a series of closely-spaced discs mounted on a horizontal shaft and rotated
rotating biological contactors
shallow pools for storm or wastewater treatment that create growing conditions suitable for wetland plants
natural/constructed wetlands
removal of P and enhancement of suspended solid removals in primary sedimentation facilities
chemical precipitation
reduction of hardness in water
softening
removal of organics not removed by conventional chemical and biological treatment methods
adsorption
selective destruction of disease-causing organisms
disinfection
removal of total combined chlorine residual that exists after chlorination
dechlorination
the precipitated chemicals and other materials removed from water to make it potable and palatable
sludge
the practice of applying WWTP residuals for the purposes of recovering nutrients, water, or reclaiming despoiled land such as strip mine spoils
land spreading
the planned burial of wastewater solids, including processed sludge, screening, grit, and ash, at a designated site
sludge landfilling
the application of heavy sludge loadings to some finite land area that has limited public access and has been set aside or dedicated for all time to the disposal of wastewater sludge
dedicated land disposal
used to describe the changes in BOD in a stream/river
Streeter-Phelps Model
where all weather occurs
troposphere
where jet airplanes fly; temp increases with altitude due to increasing ozone
stratosphere
coldest parts of our atmosphere; where meteors burn due to friction with gas molecules
mesosphere
where air is thin (fewer air molecules); very sensitive to solar activity and can heat up to 1500 deg C
thermosphere
upper layer of atmosphere where atoms and molecules escape into space
exosphere
all atmospheric particles in with diameters equal to or less than 100 micrometer
total suspended particles
particulate matter with diameters less than 10 micrometer
PM10
particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 micrometer
PM2.5
a colorless gas with a pungent smell at low concentrations
sulfur dioxide
production of SO3, particulate sulfates, and H2SO4 due to oxidation can lead to __
acid rain
reddish-brown as with a pungent smell
nitrogen dioxide
a colorless, odorless gas that can be found at the upper layers of the atmosphere and serves as our protection from the sun’s harmful rays
ozone
organic compounds that contains chlorine, fluorine, and hydrogen used for coolants
chlorofluorocarbons
a colorless, odorless gas that is very toxic when inhaled as it reduces oxygen transport in the body
carbon monoxide
also known as air toxics
hazardous air pollutants
among the most abundantly produced chemicals in the world
benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene
change in air temperature with height
lapse rate
the tendency of the atmosphere to resist or enhance vertical motion
stability
thermal structure neither enhances nor resists mechanical turbulence
neutral atmosphere
dry adiabatic lapse rate for neutral atmosphere
1 deg C/100 m
mechanical turbulence is enhance by the thermal structure
unstable atmosphere
the temperature of the atmosphere falls at a rate > -1degC/100 m
superadiabatic lapse
thermal structure inhibits mechanical turbulences
stable atmosphere
the temperature of the atmosphere falls at a rate < -1degC/100 m
subadiabatic lapse rate
temp increases with elevation (severe form of stable temp profile)
inversion
unburned particles of carbon in smoke are pulled out of the smoke by using static electricity in the precipitators, leaving clean, hot air to escape the smokestacks
electrostatic precipitators
in a chamber containing a vortex, the gas move up the cylinder while larger particles hit the inside wall and drop down
cyclone separators
cloth that would not allow dust to make its way through
fabric filter
a type of system that is used to remove harmful materials from industrial exhaust gases before they are released into the environment
gas scrubber
gas scrubber for SOx
flue gas desulfurization
used to convert VOC emissions into carbon dioxide and water through combustion
incineration
process of capturing this carbon dioxide and storing it below ground, pumping it into geologic layers
carbon capture and storage
absorb some of the thermal radiation leaving the surface and emit long wave radiation into all directions, while acting as partial blanket and keeping the earth warm
natural greenhouse effect
total energy that a gas absorbs over a period of time
global warming potential
a process of human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of GHGs and other substances which may contribute directly or indirectly to climate change
mitigation
