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Week 11

The document discusses the hydrologic cycle and how water moves from the ocean to land and back. It also discusses aquifers, the difference between water withdrawal and consumption, point and nonpoint pollution, eutrophication, and water treatment processes. Groundwater pollution is discussed as a difficult problem to address.

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Romel Posadas
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29 views2 pages

Week 11

The document discusses the hydrologic cycle and how water moves from the ocean to land and back. It also discusses aquifers, the difference between water withdrawal and consumption, point and nonpoint pollution, eutrophication, and water treatment processes. Groundwater pollution is discussed as a difficult problem to address.

Uploaded by

Romel Posadas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ROMEL D POSADAS BPA3

NSCI3051

CLINT ERVEN MOSQUEDA

WEEK 11

QUIZ

1. Describe the path a molecule of water might follow through the hydrologic cycle from the ocean to
land and back again.

Water evaporates, falls s rain or snow, passes through living organisms, and returns to the ocean.

2. About what percent of the worlds water is liquid, fresh, surface water that supports most terrestrial
life?

.02 is accessible for fresh water resources.

3. What is an aquifer? How does water get into an aquifer? Explain the idea of an artesian well and a
cone of depression.

Aquifers are porous layers of sand or gravel or of cracked or porous rock. The layers of rock and clay
below keep the water from seeping out. Recharge zones provide water into aquifers from non-
evaporated rain and runoff. Pressure zones cause water to flow freely at the surface creating artisan
wells; the cone of depression results from pumping artisan wells and can leave the wells shallow and
dry.

4. What is the difference between water withdrawal and consumption? Which sector of water use
consumes most globally? Overall, has water use increased in the past century? Has efficiency increased
or decreased in the three main use sectors?

Withdrawal is the use of water while consumption is the actual drinking or direct use of humans for
health. Farming can use up to 70 percent of water withdrawal. It has increased over the past century,
with the availability of efficiency but not the adaption.

5. Describe at least one example of the environmental costs of water diversion from rivers to farms or
cites.
There is a loss of fishing, farming, and water loss due to evaporation.

6. Explain the difference between point and nonpoint pollution. Which is harder to control? Why?

Point source is the direct discharge of pollutants from specific location (drainpipes, ditches, sewer).
Nonpoint source are diffused with no specific location where they discharge like runoff from farm field
and feedlots, golf course, lawns etc. Point pollution are discrete and identifiable so they are easy to
regulate, while nonpoint are not and are harder.

7. Why are nutrients considered pollution? Explain the ideas of eutrophication and the oxygen sag.

The excess amounts of nutrients leads to eutrophication which cause plants and living organisms to
flourish too rapidly causing a cut off of sunlight from over growth, which causes an oxygen sag that is the
decline downstream from the polluted area, and a unpleasant look, smell, and taste of the freshwater
area.

8. Describe primary, secondary, and tertiary water treatment.

Primary treatment is physically separating large solids from the waste stream with screens and settling
tanks, secondary is where aerobic bacteria break down dissolved organic compounds, and tertiary
treatment removes dissolved metals and nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates, from the
secondary effluent.

9. What are some sources of groundwater contamination? Why is groundwater pollution such a difficult
problem?

Industrial, agricultural, domestic contaminants are all responsible for the pollution of groundwater,
along with fracking, and leaking from industrial landfills and waste disposal sites, surface
impoundments, agricultural fields, forests, and abandoned wells. It proves difficult to clean up
groundwater contamination because once pollutants seep down into them they are trapped and it is
timely and costly to clean the deep areas.

10. What is a "living machine," and how does it work?

Living machines are a sequence of tanks bacteria algae and small artificial wetlands that converts factory
effluent to nearly pure water and vegetation, it removes 99 percent of biological oxygen demand, 98
percent of suspended solids, 93 percent of nitrogen, and 57 percent of phosphorus.

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