Identifying waste

Question 1

How do all organisms interact with the environment? Why isn’t a problem?

Answer 1

Exploits the environment to their best ability. They take resources and produce waste. This wasn’t a problem because other organisms used their waste. The rate of waste removed was equal to or greater than the rate of waste produced.

Question 2

How do humans interact with the environment? Why problems have been created?

Answer 2

Humans also exploit the environment. The fast population increase of humans causes problems with the waste produced vs the waste removed.

Question 3

what is a non-persistent pollutant? what are persistent pollutants? What are the examples? When do they become a concern?

Answer 3

non-persistent pollutants: waste which could be separated into simple non-pollutant compounds by chemical reactions or bacterial action
Eg: Fertilizers, sewage

persistent pollutants: waste which takes a long time to biodegrade, or not at all. The harm done by these pollutants could be irreversible.
Eg: pesticides, heavy metal run-offs

Question 4

where do most pollutants end up? How?

Answer 4

In the water either by seepage, snowfall or rainfall like acid precipitation, run-offs

Question 5

what do excessive amounts of nitrates mean?

Answer 5

Usually a sign of decomposition of organic matter

Question 6

what is Algal Bloom? Eutrophication? How is it caused? Why is it an issue?

Answer 6

Algal Bloom or Eutrophication is the dense growth or increased growth of algae in bodies of water. It is caused by excess amounts of nutrients of nitrates and phosphates.
When Algae dies, bacteria require oxygen from the water to decompose the algae, causing decreased oxygen levels in the water, some algae blooms could cause sickness or even death, makes water unfit to drink, bad for recreation because it stinks, or decreases water quality

Question 7

what human activities cause algal blooms?

Answer 7

fertilizer run-offs, sewage

Question 8

what is hard water? Why are water softeners added to laundry detergents, soaps, etc?

Answer 8

hard water contains high levels of iron, magnesium salts.
Water softeners are added into soap or detergent to make it still effective even in hard water. The salts in hard water would form bonds with the soap suds and create soap curd. To avoid it, a water softener is used(usually sodium carbonate), so the salts bond with the softener instead of the soap suds.

Question 9

describe the clean, decomposition, septic, recovery, clean zone.

Answer 9

Clean- no or very minimal level of pollutants, high or healthy amount of oxygen in water(8-10ppm)
decomposition- some pollutants in that area, moderate level of water quality, moderate level of oxygen(4-8ppm)

septic- poor water quality(0-2ppm oxygen), pollutants making that area polluted.

recovery zone- pollutants lessen, oxygen levels rise(4-8ppm)

clean zone- no or low pollution, oxygen levels rise (8-10ppm), good quality organisms are present

Question 10

what is a point source? what is a nonpoint source? Why are nonpoint sources harder to control?

Answer 10

point source- the exact location of the emission of a pollutant can be sourced
eg: sewage, smokestacks

nonpoint source- multiple locations of emission, pollutants become highly dispersed, hard to determine the exact location and time since emissions don’t happen regularly
eg: feedlots, fertilizer run-offs, golf courses

Question 11

what is the first step in determining whether a body of water is polluted? what comes next?

Answer 11

determining whether there is pollutant present. Then you have to monitor it to see if the concentration increases and pinpoint the source

Question 12

what processes increase/decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen in water?

Answer 12

increase oxygen levels: when more oxygen is in the atmosphere

Question 13

what happens to oxygen in the water when the sewage is added?

Answer 13

bacteria decompose the waste which requires oxygen, so oxygen level in the water is decreased

Question 14

give examples of different organisms that live in different zones? Are poor quality water-tolerant organisms only found in poor quality water?

Answer 14

poor quality tolerant organisms can be found in any type of water, they don’t require poor quality water to live.

Question 15

what are macroinvertebrates? what are the kinds? which is the most numerous?

Answer 15

macro- visible to the naked eye
invert- no backbone
macroinvertebrates are visible to the naked eye and have no backbones.

larval of insects are the most numerous.

Question 16

what are lichens? what can they stand, can’t stand?

Answer 16

lichen are rootless organisms of a combination of fungus, green algae, or photosynthetic bacteria. They are able to tolerate drought and high temperatures, but they cannot stand poor air quality.

Question 17

How are macroinvertebrates and lichen useful?

Answer 17

Specific lichen types are more sensitive to specific pollutants than others, so scientists have devised a warning system with lichen that can tell them if a pollutant is presently based on my lichen growing or not growing in that area. This can be done early without harming other organisms.

numbers of types of specific macroinvertebrates organisms are sensitive to specific water qualities, so the presence of these organisms can indicate if pollutants are present.

Question 18

How does water quality affect organisms that live within it?

Answer 18

Low water quality causes the organisms that require good water quality to swim to a different zone or die off if there is nowhere else to go.

Question 19

how does oxygen enter the water?

Answer 19

photosynthesis, atmosphere