Water Pollution + Water & Sewage Treatment Deck (Final) Flashcards
Safety of water for drinking
What is potability?
Microbes in water that act as surrogates to evaluate the presence of pathogens in that environment
What are indicator organisms?
What are the 3 criteria for selecting indicator organisms?
1) Present in poop in high numbers
2) Survive in water like pathogens
3) Detectable by simple tests
The most common microbes used as indicator organisms
What are coliforms?
Name 3 characteristics of a coliform.
1) Aerobic or facultatively anaerobic
2) Gram-negative
3) Non-endospore-forming bacilli
A quantitative potability test that looks at total coliforms per 100 mL of water
What is most probable number (MPN)?
A qualitative potability test that distinguishes fecal coliforms
What is ONPG/MUG?
A quantitative potability test utilizing differential media like EMB that is specific for fecal coliforms
What is membrane filtration?
Potability test utilizing gene-specific primers to detect microbes present due to sewage contamination
What is PCR?
What are the 3 steps of water treatment (HINT: CFD)?
1) Coagulation
2) Filtration
3) Disinfection
Part of sewage treatment involving screening, skimming, sedimentation, and removing sludge
What is primary treatment?
Measure of oxygen required to fully metabolize organic matter in water
What is biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)?
Part of sewage treatment that is predominantly biological; designed to remove organic matter & reduce BOD; sewage undergoes strong aeration to encourage growth of aerobic microbes; activated sludge system
What is secondary treatment?
Most expensive part of sewage treatment; here, sewage is treated to a potable level, removing remaining BOD and all other microbes
What is teriary treatment?
Why are anaerobic sludge digesters used in sludge treatment?
To encourage the growth of methanogens, which produce methane to be used as fuel
