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