Practice Quiz: Water Pollution Answers
The water feature which would be measured using a secchi disc or other turbidity test
Sediment load
The water under the ice in a lake that has been frozen for several weeks was found to be supersaturated with oxygen. The most likely explanation of this finding is:
Solubility of oxygen in water increases as the temperature drops
In a typical river, the oxygen sag curve is likely to be both of you during:
Summer
Which of the following events first brought attention to the discharge of industrial waste in US rivers?
The Cuyahoga River river catching on fire in the late 1960s
The best way to reduce or eliminate the incidence of "dead zones" in coastal waters is to:
All of the above
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a measure of:
Amount of oxygen that aerobic microorganisms will need to decompose the waste
Which of the following is a naturally occurring groundwater pollutant that can also be introduced through anthropogenic activities?
Arsenic
A typical oligotrophic lake will:
Be clear with low levels of dissolved oxygen
Primary sewage treatment is used to remove which of the following from water?
Both biodegradable and non-biodegradable solids
Which of the following is incorrect about what happens to the byproducts found in sewage treatment systems?
Chlorinated water can be put back into the drinking water supply
Which of these contain only DISEASES that are transmitted by water-borne organisms?
Cholera, giardiasis, typhoid fever
The process of human activities near urban or agricultural areas that input excess plant nutrients into lakes is known as
Cultural eutrophication
One of the following water quality parameters is NOT considered a water pollutant
Dissolved oxygen
The one measure that can tell the most about the overall quality of a surface water source is:
Dissolved oxygen concentration
Which of the following would most likely cause metabolic stress in aerobic like organisms?
Dissolved oxygen levels at 2 to 3 ppm
Which of the following river conditions would you feel the highest dissolved oxygen content?
Fast-moving cold water, large amount of submerged vegetative biomass
Plant nutrients such as nitrates and phosphorus are classified as water pollutants because they:
Increase the growth of algae
A consequence of thermal pollution is:
Increased rates of metabolism for fish
As a water pollutant, excessive heat is more likely to come from what source?
Industrial and power plants
All of the following are true about water pollution due to biodegradable waste EXCEPT
It increases the cost of drinking water treatment
Which of these is a potential route of groundwater contamination
Leaking storage tanks, seeping of contaminants from the surface, underground injection wells (1, 2, and 3)
One of these is NOT a naturally occurring source of groundwater contamination:
MTBE
One of these is not normally found in groundwater:
Oxygen
The measure which is the cause of cultural eutrophication
Plant nutrients
A type of waste water treatment that includes some from of physical cleaning is
Primary treatment and tertiary treatment (1 and 3)
Which one of these is a current option for the cleanup of contaminated groundwater?
Pump the water to the surface, treat it and return it back to the aquifer
All of these are true of secondary sewage treatment, except:
Removes all phosphates, nitrates, and heavy metals
Arrange these bodies of water in order of fastest to slowest in which they can clean themselves of biodegradable waste.
River>Lake>Aquifer
The biggest current contributor to the deterioration of water quality in the US is:
Runoff from agricultural activities
The federal legislation that said maximum content levels for pollutants that cause adverse health effects in humans is the:
Safe Drinking Water Act
For a river that receives a constant discharge of biodegradable waste from a point source, all of the following statements are true of the oxygen sag curve except:
The curve will occur at the discharge point
When groundwater becomes contaminated, it tends to remain contaminated because:
The dissolved oxygen levels are low or non-existent
Heavy metals are considered pollutants because:
They are neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors which bioaccumulate in fat
All of the following are examples of non-point sources of water pollution EXCEPT:
Treated wastewater discharges
Which water quality test will best determine the disruption of photosynthesis caused by cloudy water conditions from sedimentation?
Turbidity
Largest source of oil pollution found in the oceans is from
Urban and industrial runoff from the land