Exam 1 Study: Water Terms Sanitation

Question 1

Water Quality

Answer 1

a term used to describe the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water, usually in respect to its suitability for a particular purpose.

Question 2

Domestic Water Use

Answer 2

Water used for household purposes, such as drinking, bathing, toilets, watering the lawn. About 85% of domestic water is delivered to homes via public-supply facility (such as a county water department). About 15% of US population supplies their own water, mainly from wells.

Question 3

Commercial Water Use

Answer 3

Water for businesses, commercial facilities, and other institutions.

Question 4

Livestock Water Use

Answer 4

water used for livestock watering, feed lots, dairy operations, fish farming, and other on-farm needs.

Question 5

Watershed

Answer 5

the land area that drains water to a particular stream, river, or lake.
Land feature that can be identified by tracing a line along the highest elevations between two areas on a map, often a ridge.
Large watersheds, like the Mississippi River basin contain thousands of smaller watersheds.

Question 6

Watershed Boundary

Answer 6

The highest elevations surrounding a lake or river segment. A drop of water falling outside of the boundary will drain to another watershed.

Question 7

Public Water Supply

Answer 7

Water withdrawn by public governments, and agencies, and private companies. Supplied to users. Provided water for domestic, commercial, thermoelectric power, industrial, and public uses. This is were most people’s water comes from.

Question 8

Public Water Supply requirements

Answer 8

The systems have at least 15 service connections (such as households, businesses, or schools) or regularly serve at least 25 individuals daily for at least 60 days out of the year.

Question 9

Cubic Feet per Second (CFS)

Answer 9

Rate of flow for things such as rivers. Is equal to the volume of water one foot high and one foot wide flowing a distance of one foot per second. Equal to 7.48 gallons per second.

Question 10

Conveyance Loss

Answer 10

Water that is lost in transit through a pip, canal, or ditch via leakage or evaporation. Generally this lost water cannot be used (unless it leaks into the ground, so it could still be used).

Question 11

Drainage Basin

Answer 11

Land area where precipitation runs off into streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Can be identified by tracing line along highest elevation. May contain thousands of smaller basins.
Also known as a watershed

Question 12

Consumptive Use

Answer 12

Percentage of water withdrawn that is evaporated, transpired by plants, incorporated into products or crops, consumed by humans or livestock, or otherwise removed from the immediate water environment.
Water that is consumed.

Question 13

Drawdown

Answer 13

A lowering of the groundwater surface caused by pumping

Question 14

Artificial Recharge

Answer 14

Process where water is put back into groundwater storage from surface-water supplies such as irrigation, or induced infiltration from streams or wells.

Question 15

Injection Well

Answer 15

Well constructed for the purpose of injecting treated wastewater directly into the ground. Wastewater is generally pumped into a well for dispersal or stage in an aquifer. Generally put into aquifers that don’t have freshwater.

Question 16

Drip Irrigation

Answer 16

Method of irrigation where tubes are filled with water to slowly drip onto crops. low-pressure method of irrigation. Less water is lost to evaporation.

Question 17

Effluent

Answer 17

Water that flows from a sewage treatment plant after it has been treated.

Question 18

Erosion

Answer 18

The process in which a material (soil) is worn away by a stream of liquid (water) or air, often due to the presence of abrasive particles in the stream.

Question 19

Soil Erosion

Answer 19

Nutrients or chemicals attached to the eroding soil particles are relocated. Can lead to polluted water

Question 20

Mississippi River Basin and Erosion

Answer 20

The Mississippi River has moved lots of soil a long distance, displacing nutrients and chemicals, which have ended up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Question 21

Estuary

Answer 21

A place where fresh and saltwater mix, such as a bay, salt marsh, or where a river enters an ocean.

Question 22

Evaporation

Answer 22

The process of liquid water becoming water vapor, including vaporization from water surfaces, land surfaces, and snow fields, but not from leaf surfaces.

Question 23

Transpiration

Answer 23

Process by which water that is absorbed by plants, usually through the roots, is evaporated into the atmosphere from the plant surface, such as leaf pores.

Question 24

Evapotranspiration

Answer 24

The sum of evaporation and transpiration.

Question 25

Tributary

Answer 25

A smaller river or stream that flows into a larger river or stream. Usually, a number of smaller tributaries merge to form a river.

Question 26

Turbidity

Answer 26

The amount of solid particles that are suspended in water and that cause light rays shining through the water to scatter. Turbidity makes the water cloudy or even opaque in extreme cases. Turbidity is measured in nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). Measured by shining light through water sample.

Question 27

Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU)

Answer 27

Unit of measure for the turbidity of water. A measure of the cloudiness of water as measured by a nephelometer. Turbidity is based on the amount of light that is reflected off particles in the water.

Question 28

Flood Plain

Answer 28

A strip of relatively flat and normally dry land alongside a stream, river, or lake that is covered by water during a flood.

Question 29

100 Year Flood Plain

Answer 29

The area that will flood every 100 years.

Question 30

Flood Stage

Answer 30

The elevation at which overflow of the natural banks of a stream or body of water begins in the reach or area in which the elevation is measured.

Question 31

Giardiasis

Answer 31

A disease that results from an infection by the protozoan parasite Giardia Intestinalis, caused by drinking water that is either not filtered or not chlorinated. The disorder is more prevalent in children than in adults. Characterized by abdominal discomfort, nausea, and alternating constipation and diarrhea. Very contagious. One of the most common causes of waterborne disease.

Question 32

Cryptosporidium

Answer 32

Microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. Both the parasite and the disease are commonly known as “Crypto.”\ Watery diarrhea Stomach cramps or pain Dehydration Nausea Vomiting Fever Weight loss

Question 33

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)

Answer 33

Designation given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to water-quality standards promulgated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The MCL is the greatest amount of a contaminant that can be present in drinking water without causing a risk to human health.

Question 34

Milligrams per Liter (mg/l)

Answer 34

A unit of the concentration of a constituent in water or wastewater. It represents 0.001 gram of a constituent in 1 liter of water. It is approximately equal to one part per million (PPM).

Question 35

Groundwater

Answer 35

Water that flows or seeps downward and saturates soil or rock, supplying springs and wells. The upper surface of the saturate zone is called the water table. Water stored underground in rock crevices and in the pores of geologic materials that make up the Earth's crust.

Question 36

Groundwater, confined

Answer 36

Groundwater under pressure significantly greater than atmospheric, with its upper limit the bottom of a bed with hydraulic conductivity distinctly lower than that of the material in which the confined water occurs.

Question 37

Groundwater recharge

Answer 37

Inflow of water to a groundwater reservoir from the surface. Infiltration of precipitation and its movement to the water table is one form of natural recharge. Also, the volume of water added by this process.

Question 38

Groundwater, unconfined

Answer 38

Water in an aquifer that has a water table that is exposed to the atmosphere.

Question 39

Hardness

Answer 39

A water-quality indication of the concentration of alkaline salts in water, mainly calcium and magnesium. If the water you use is "hard" then more soap, detergent or shampoo is necessary to raise a lather.

Question 40

headwater(s)

Answer 40

1) The source and upper reaches of a stream; also the upper reaches of a reservoir. (2) The water upstream from a structure or point on a stream. (3) The small streams that come together to form a river. Also may be thought of as any and all parts of a river basin except the mainstream river and main tributaries

Question 41

Hydroelectric power water use

Answer 41

The use of water in the generation of electricity at plants where the turbine generators are driven by falling water.

Question 42

Hydrologic Cycle

Answer 42

The cyclic transfer of water vapor from the Earth's surface via evapotranspiration into the atmosphere, from the atmosphere via precipitation back to earth, and through runoff into streams, rivers, and lakes, and ultimately into the oceans.

Question 43

Impermeable Layer

Answer 43

A layer of solid material, such as rock or clay, which does not allow water to pass through.

Question 44

Industrial Water Use

Answer 44

Water used for industrial purposes in such industries as steel, chemical, paper, and petroleum refining. Nationally, water for industrial uses comes mainly (80%) from self-supplied sources, such as a local wells or withdrawal points in a river, but some water comes from public-supplied sources, such as the county/city water department.

Question 45

Infiltration

Answer 45

Flow of water from the land surface into the subsurface.

Question 46

Irrigation

Answer 46

The controlled application of water for agricultural purposes through manmade systems to supply water requirements not satisfied by rainfall.

Question 47

Irrigation water use

Answer 47

Water application on lands to assist in the growing of crops and pastures or to maintain vegetative growth in recreational lands, such as parks and golf courses.

Question 48

Leaching

Answer 48

The process by which soluble materials in the soil, such as salts, nutrients, pesticide chemicals or contaminants, are washed into a lower layer of soil or are dissolved and carried away by water.

Question 49

Levee

Answer 49

A natural or manmade earthen barrier along the edge of a stream, lake, or river. Land alongside rivers can be protected from flooding by levees.

Question 50

Marsh

Answer 50

A primarily grassy area where water covers the ground most of the time. A marsh may be prone to flooding during wet seasons.

Question 51

Million Gallons per Day (Mgal/d)

Answer 51

A rate of flow of water equal to: * 133,680.56 cubic feet per day * 1.5472 cubic feet per second * 3.0689 acre-feet per day A flow of one million gallons per day for one year equals 1,120 acre-feet (365 million gallons).

Question 52

Mining Water Use

Answer 52

Water use during quarrying rocks and extracting minerals from the land.

Question 53

Municipal Water System

Answer 53

A water system, also called a public water system, that has at least five service connections or which regularly serves 25 individuals for 60 days.

Question 54

Non-Point Source (NPS) Pollution

Answer 54

Pollution discharged over a wide land area, not from one specific location. These are forms of diffuse pollution caused by sediment, nutrients, organic and toxic substances originating from land-use activities, which are carried to lakes and streams by surface runoff. Non-point source pollution is contamination that occurs when rainwater, snowmelt, or irrigation washes off plowed fields, city streets, or suburban backyards. As this runoff moves across the land surface, it picks up soil particles and pollutants, such as nutrients and pesticides.

Question 55

Point-Source Pollution

Answer 55

Water pollution coming from a single point, such as a sewage-outflow pipe.

Question 56

Organic Matter

Answer 56

Plant and animal residues, or substances made by living organisms. All are based upon carbon compounds.

Question 57

Osmosis

Answer 57

A process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane.

Question 58

Reverse Osmosis

Answer 58

A water purification process that removes ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water using a partially permeable membrane

Question 59

Outfall

Answer 59

The place where a sewer, drain, or stream discharges. The outlet or structure through which reclaimed water or treated effluent is finally discharged to a receiving water body.

Question 60

Oxygen Demand

Answer 60

The need for molecular oxygen to meet the needs of biological and chemical processes in water. Even though very little oxygen will dissolve in water, it is extremely important in biological and chemical processes.

Question 61

Greywater

Answer 61

Household wastewater generated from shower, baths, and washing machine. It can be recycled on-site for irrigation, toilet flushing and laundry due to lower levels of contaminants.

Question 62

Blackwater

Answer 62

Household wastewater generated from toilets, dishwaters and the kitchen. It contains a high concentration of organic matter and bacteria so it needs to be treated appropriately by biological and chemical methods.

Question 63

How much Domestic water is supplied from public facilities, how much from wells?

Answer 63

85% from public works, 15% from (mostly) wells