ENV SCI: Chapter 18 - Water Pollution

Eutrophication often has undesirable effects on water bodies, such as ____.

"blooms" of algae or aquatic plants Increases in bacterial population Cloudy or turbid water

Which of the following statements accurately describe how the Clean Water Act has affected water quality in the United States?

- Fish and aquatic insects can now be found in water bodies once devoid of life. - Beaches once closed by public health officials are once again open for recreation. - Over 90 percent of the EPA monitored river miles are now considered suitable for their designated use.

The state of West Bengal and the countries of ____ are threatened by naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater, which is caused by sediments deposited in the Ganges River delta. More than 100 million people may be affected by exposure to arsenic as a result of using contaminated groundwater for drinking

- India - Banladesh

How does excess sediments in water cause problems?

- It can fill in lakes and reservoirs - It can increase the cost of water purification - It can obstruct shipping channels

Acid pollution in aquatic environments ____.

- Kills off sensitive aquatic species - May cause increased leaching of toxic metals from soil and rocks - Has caused environmental damage in about 200 lakes in the Adirondack Mountains

What are the two primary sources of thermal pollution?

- Runoff - Industrial discharge

What are the benefits of sediment deposition via waterways?

- Sediment delivers nutrients useful to farms - Sediment creates deltas and islands. - Sediment helps counteract the coastal erosion process.

Organic pollutants include __________________.

- Some chemicals used to make pesticides. - Some chemicals used to make drugs or pharmaceuticals.

Where does most of the water pollution in the United States come from?

- atmospheric fallout -soil erosion -surface runoff

Many ____ pollutants can accumulate to dangerous levels in humans and animals, disrupting endocrine hormone pathways that affect growth and physical development

- organic - metal

By far the largest source of oil pollution in the oceans comes from ____.

- routine, intentional oil dumping

Organic pollutants include __________.

- some chemicals used to make drugs or pharmaceuticals - some chemicals used to make pesticides

Point sources for pollution can include ___________.

-oil wells -underground coal mines -sewage treatment plants

The EPA considers drinking water unsafe when _____________ coliform bacterial colonies are detected in 100 mi of water.

1 or more

Describe how a dead zone is created by putting the sentences in the correct order, with the first step at the top.

1.) Nitrogen-rich fertilizer runoff washes down river systems into shallow water bodies. 2.) A burst of growth in algae and phytoplankton occurs. 3.) The algae and phytoplankton die and fall to the bottom 4.) Decomposers are overwhelmed and use most of the oxygen in the system. 5.) Oxygen-starved conditions result in a zone nearly free of aquatic life.

1.) Containment 2.) Extraction 3.) Phytoremediation

1.) To restrain dirty water or liquid wastes in a place or cap the surface with an impermeable layer. 2.) To pump out polluted water so it can be treated. 3.) To use plants that grow fast to remove large amounts of organic nutrients from water.

An estimated ____ percent of people in developed countries have clean drinking water. In contrast, ____ people in poorer countries do not have access to clean drinking water.

95; 780 million

What is a red tide?

A bloom of deadly aquatic microorganisms

What is the source of the "dead zone" created in the Gulf of Mexico?

Agricultural fertilizer runoff

Which of the following is not an example of source reduction?

Gathering plastic refuse off coastal beaches

Which metal is the most widespread containment in the United States and can rapidly accumulate in the issues of fish, making them unsuitable for human consumption?

Mercury

Compare eutrophic and oligotrophic waters by placing the descriptions in the correct category

Oligotrophic water is clear and nutrient poor. Eutrophic water is rich in organics and organisms

What is the primary reason that high levels of caffeine, antibiotics, and recreational drugs have been found in major waterways?

People often consume more of these products than their bodies can absorb, and the rest is excreted and passed through sewage systems.

The Clean Water Act focuses on ____.

Reducing point source pollution creating better sanitation requirements for sewage processing and discharge improving surface-water quality

True or false: Sub-Saharan Africa presents many of the remaining problems with water sanitation, where nearly 800 million lack access to clean drinking water.

True

E. coli is an example of ____________ bacterium, one of the many species of bacteria that live in the colon or intestines of humans and other animals.

coliform

_________ occurs when human activities result in an increase in the biological productivity in a water body.

cultural eutrophication

Hypoxic, or oxygen-depleted, waters are referred to as ____ zones.

dead

The measurement of the amount of oxygen present in water, known as ___________ (DO), can help determine the amount pollution present in a body water.

dissolved

The improper disposal of industrial and household wastes and the runoff of pesticides are the two most significant sources for __________ pollution.

organic

The amount of dissolved ____ is a reliable indicator of water quality; less than 2 ppm will support only detritus feeders and decomposers.

oxygen

The downstream decline of oxygen in a water body is called the ____.

oxygen sag

Waterborne diseases caused by ____ include cholera, polio, hepatitis, and typhoid.

pathogenic

Bits of ____, often tossed from ships, are a major source of pollution in the ocean.

plastic

The cheapest, most effective way to reduce ___________ is by practicing source reduction, in which toxic materials are not produced or not released into the environment in the first place.

pollution

Water __________ is caused by any physical, biological, or chemical change that degrades water quality.

pollution

During __________ treatment, raw sewage is passed through a metal grating to remove large debris and separate solids from the rest of the waste stream.

primary

__________ treatment of wastewater consists of biological degradation of the dissolved organic compounds.

secondary

During ___________ treatment, inorganic plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate are removed by passing them through a lagoon or wetland, or through the use of chemicals.

tertiary

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) tests are useful in determining ____, a measurement of water quality.

the presence of organic waste in the water

Waste disposal sites are the source of the most potent ____ found in groundwater.

toxins

Untreated human and animal ____ is the primary source of pathogenic organisms that cause waterborne disease.

waste

_____________, the process of allowing chemicals and pollutants to be filtered from water by living organisms, is an attractive method of sewage treatment due to its low cost.

Bioremediation

A thermal plume is a ____.

Body of heated water commonly discharged from power plants into lakes or rivers.

What causes the oxygen-deprived conditions in a dead zone?

Decomposers consume the oxygen after a bloom of algae and phytoplankton occurs and they eventually die.

During the process of bioremediation ___________.

certain plants, such as duckweed, or ecosystems, such as wetlands, filter out sediments and remove pollutants from the surrounding water.

The primary metals of health concern include cadmium, tin, nickel, and ____. They are used in industrial processes and are persistent in the environment.

mercury and lead

Acids and ____ from mining have caused the widespread pollution of streams, lakes, and groundwater in certain regions of the United States.

metals

A farmer spraying a corn field with pesticide is an example of a(n) ____ source pollutant.

nonpoint

___________ is a major source of acid water pollution, as sulfur compounds react with oxygen and water to make sulfuric acid.

Coal mining

In Florida, ____ often gather in thermal plumes near power plants. Sometimes when these power plants break down in winter, the animals will die from thermal shock.

Manatees

Atmospheric deposition delivers air pollution to waterways through precipitation

True

The ____, which flows through New Delhi, India, and enters in the Ganges downstream, is used by 57 million people but is badly polluted by runoff and coliform bacteria.

Yamuna River

Oligotrophic bodies of water usually have little buffering (neutralization) capacity, and do their ecosystems can be severely disrupted by ____ pollution.

acid

A common type of pathogen that pollutes water is coliform bacteria, which is ____.

bacterial species that live within the colon and intestines of humans and other animals.

Atmospheric deposition is a __________.

form of nonpoint source pollution.

A total maximum daily load (TMDL) is a(n) ____.

goal set amount of a particular pollutant that a water body can receive from point and nonpoint source

In 2016 in Flint, Michigan, widespread illness and high rates of impaired child development led to the detection of high levels of ____________ in the city-provided drinking water.

lead