WATER QUALITY AND POLLUTION Flashcards
5 Important Characteristics of Water
High heat capacity
Universal solvent
Solid is less dense than liquid
High surface tension
Transmits sunlight
Availability of water with its percentages
Seawater - 97.5 %
Fresh water - 2.5 %
Ice caps and glaciers - 1.97 %
Groundwater - 0.5 %
Others - 0.03 %
What is the world’s largest watershed?
Amazon
Precipitation that remains on the surface of the land and does not seep down through the soil
Surface water
Movement of fresh water from precipitation (including snowmelt) to rivers, lakes, wetlands, and ultimately, the ocean
Runoff
Supply of fresh water under Earth’s surface that is stored in underground aquifers
Groundwater
Underground caverns and porous layer of sand, gravel, or rock in which groundwater is stored
Aquifers
The upper surface of the saturated zone of groundwater
Water table
Three conservation of water resources
Agricultural
Domestic
Industrial/Public
A measure of the suitability of water for a particular use based on selected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics
Water quality
State the 6 physical characteristics of water
Color
Odor
Solids
Temperature
Absorbance and Transmittance
Turbidity
State the inorganic chemical characteristics of water
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Organic nitrogen
Total Kjeldhal nitrogen
Total phosphorus
Inorganic phosphorus
Organic phosphorus
Metals
Alkalinity
pH
Dissolved oxygen
State the 4 organic chemical characteristics of water
BODs (Biological Oxygen Demand)
COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)
TOC (Total Organic Carbon
Specific organic compounds
State the 4 biological characteristics of water
Bacteria
Helminths
Protozoa
Viruses
Measure of wastewater strength/performance
Suspended solids
Measure of organic content/active microbial population
Volatile suspended solids
Impact of suspended solids
Aesthetically displeasing
Provides absorption sites
May be biodegraded to objectionable by-products
Biologically active solids may cause disease
What are the two source of solids?
Inorganic (e.g. clay, silt)
Organic (e.g. fiber, biosolids)
What is the source of turbidity?
Eroded colliodal material, biosolids, soaps/detergents, emulsifiers
Two measurements of turbidity? State its function.
Secchi disk - maximum depth of visibility
Photometry - absorption and scattering of light
What do you call the color of water with suspended solids?
Apparent color
What do you call the color of water after removal of suspended solids
True color
What are the two measurements of color?
True color units (TCU)
Hazen or Pt-Co units (PCU)
What sources has taste but no odor?
Inorganic sources
What sources has taste, odor, and usually color?
Organic sources
How do you measure taste and odor?
Threshold odor number (TON)
How do you measure temperature?
in situ
Three sources of dissolved solids.
Solvent action on solids, liquids, gases
Contact with atmosphere, surfaces, and within soil
Decay products
Two measurements of dissolved solids
Gravimetric
Conductance (indicative of ions)
It includes carbonates, silicates, borates, phosphates, sulphides and ammonia
Alkalinity
What are the sources of alkalinity?
Dissolution of minerals, detergents, fertilizers
What is the impact of alkalinity?
taste (in high values), precipitation, buffering capacity
It is the concentration of multivalent ions in solution.
Hardness
Hardness which is equivalent to alkalinity
Carbonate hardness
What are the sources of hardness?
Cations of Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Sr, Al (practically represented as Ca+Mg)
It is affected by temperature, salinity, pressure and oxygen demand
Dissolved oxygen
What do you call the equation that estimate the saturation concentration of dissolved solids?
Benson-Krause equation
What are the sources of metals?
Weathering/deposition
Volcanic eruption
Human activity
What are the two synthetic organic chemicals?
Pesticides
Volatile organic compounds (Source: solvents, materials in chemical processing)
Two types of indicator organisms
Indicators of contamination
Indicators of biointegrity
Name the 5 types of point sources
Domestic
Combined sewer
Stormwater
Industrial discharges
Spills
Name the 5 types of non-point sources
Agricultural run-off
Livestock
Urban runoff
Landfills
Recreational activities
What are the three existing water resources according to NWRB?
Marine waters
Groundwater
Surface water
What are the 9 agencies involved in national regulation?
- DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources)
a. EMB (Environmental Management Bureau)
b. NWRB (National Water Resources Board)
c. LLDA (Laguna Lake Development Authority - BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources)
- DOH (Department of Health)
- DOST (Department of Science and Technology)
- PCG (Philippine Coast Guard)
- LWUA (Local Water Utilities Administration)
- MWSS (Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System)
- MWCI (Manila Water Company, Inc.)
- MWSI (Maynilad Water Services, Inc.)
What key legislation and year is LLDA Act?
RA 4850 (1966)
What key legislation and year is the creation of MWSS?
RA 6234 (1971)
What key legislation and year is the sanitation code?
PD 856 (1975)
What key legislation and year is the water code?
PD 1067 (1976)
What key legislation and year is the Philippine environmental code?
PD 1152 (1978)
What key legislation and year is the Philippine clean water act?
RA 9275 (2004)
It is to protect the country’s water bodies from pollution from land-based sources and to provide comprehensive and integrated strategy to prevent and minimize pollution through multi-sectoral and participatory approach involving all stakeholders.
Philippine Clean Water Act
