Water Quality And Water Pollution (Ch. 22) Vocabulary Words

Front 1

Water Pollution

Back 1

the contamination of bodies of water by direct or indirect pollutants without correct treatment to remove these compounds

Front 2

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

*Biochemical Oxygen Demand

Back 2

a measure of the amount of oxygen necessary to decompose organic material in a unit volume of water. As the amount of organic waste in water increases, more oxygen is used, resulting in a higher BOD

Front 3

Environmental Law

Back 3

a field of law concerning the conservation and use of natural resources and the control of pollution

Front 4

Contaminants (water)

Back 4

undesirable material that makes a place no longer suitable for use

Front 5

Fecal coliform

Back 5

bacteria that occur naturally in human intestines and are used as a standard measure of microbial pollution and an indicator of disease potential for a water source

Front 6

Point source pollution

Back 6

sources of pollution such as smokestacks, pipes, or accidental spills that are readily identified and stationary; they are often thought to be easier to recognize and control than are area sources; this is true only in a general sense, as some very large point sources emit tremendous amounts of pollutants into the environment

Front 7

Non-point source pollution

Back 7

pollution sources that are diffused and intermittent and are influenced by factors such as land use, climate, hydrology, topography, native vegetation, and geology

Front 8

Primary treatment

Back 8

(of wastewater) removal of large particles and organic materials from wastewater through screening

Front 9

Secondary treatment

Back 9

(of wastewater) use of biological processes to degrade wastewater in a treatment facility

Front 10

Tertiary Treatment

Back 10

(of wastewater) an advanced form of wastewater treatment involving chemical treatment or advanced filtration; an example is chlorination of water

Front 11

Effluent discharge

Back 11

any material that flows outward from something; examples include wastewater from hydroelectric plants and water discharged into streams from waste-disposal sites

Front 12

Water renovation and conservation

Back 12

(cycle) the practice of applying wastewater to the land; in some systems, treated wastewater is applied to agricultural crops, and as the water infiltrates through the soil layer, it is naturally purified; reuse of the water is by pumping it out of the ground for municipal or agricultural uses

Front 13

Wastewater treatment

Back 13

the process of treating wastewater (primarily sewage) in specially designed plants that accept municipal wastewater. Generally divided into three categories: primary treatments, secondary treatment, and advanced wastewater treatment

Front 14

Runoff

Back 14

the draining away of water (or substances carried in it) from the surface of an area of land, a building or structure, etc.

Front 15

Watershed

Back 15

an area of land that forms the drainage of a stream or river; if a drop of rain falls anywhere within a watershed, it can flow out only through that same stream or river

Front 16

Eutrophication

Back 16

increase in the concentration of chemical elements required for living things (fro example, phosphorous); increased nutrient loading may lead to a population explosion of photosynthetic algae and blue-green bacteria that become so thick that light cannot penetrate the water; bacteria deprived of light beneath the surface die; as they decompose, dissolved oxygen in the lake is lowered and eventually a fish kill may result; eutrophication of lakes caused by human-induced processes, such as nutrient-rich sewage water entering a body of water, is called cultural eutrophication

Front 17

Dead zone(s)

Back 17

a place or period in which nothing happens or in which no life exists; an area of the ocean that is depleted of oxygen, frequently due to pollution

Front 18

pH

Back 18

a figure expressing the acidity or alkalinity of a solution on a logarithmic scale on which 7 is neutral, lower values are more acid, and higher values more alkaline

Front 19

Dissolved oxygen (DO)

Back 19

refers to microscopic bubbles of gaseous oxygen (O2) that are mixed in water and available to aquatic organisms for respiration—a critical process for almost all organisms

Front 20

Chlorination

Back 20

to introduce chlorine atoms into an organic compound by an addition or substitution reaction

Front 21

Aquifer

Back 21

a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater

Front 22

Hypoxia

Back 22

oxygen deficiency in a biotic environment

"aquatic hypoxia"

Front 23

Methane gas (CH_4)

Back 23

a molecule of carbon and four hydrogen atoms; it is a naturally occurring gas in the atmosphere, on of the so-called greenhouse gases (a colorless, odorless, flammable gas, the main constituent of marsh gas and the firedamp of coal mines, obtained commercially from natural gas)

Front 24

Activated sludge

Back 24

aerated sewage containing aerobic microorganisms that help to break it down

Front 25

Leachate

Back 25

noxious, mineralized liquid capable of transporting bacterial pollutants; produced when water infiltrates through waste material and becomes contaminated and polluted