C14 Water Project

C14.1 Finite and renewable resources

C14.2 Water safe to drink
C14.3 Treating waste water

Finite and Renewable resources

1. How do finite and renewable differ?

Finite resource, such as fuel, that exist in a certain amount and that is not being replaced as it is used so
will eventfully run out.
Renewable resource, such as wood or solar energy, that can or will be replenished naturally in the
course of time.

2. Give three examples of each.

Finite resources Renewable resources
 crude oil,  sugar beet,
 metal ores  sugar cane,
• natural gas  trees,
• coal  animal waste
• fossil fuels
• sulfur
 sodium chloride

3. What are the current estimates (in years) for the following finite resources?
Production rates remains at Production rates at
Finite resources
current levels (in 2036) accelerated levels (in 2036)
aluminium 1,787 years 56 years
copper 14 years 3 years
oil 18 years 11 years
gas 39 years 14 years
silver depleted in 2034 depleted in 2029

4. Ethene can be made from the lighter fractions of crude oil. It is used to make polymers like
poly(ethene). Ethene can also be made by dehydrating ethanol.
Explain why the first method is ‘unsustainable’ but the second method is a ‘renewable resource’.

 Ethene from crude oil is unsustainable as crude oil is running out.

 Ethene from ethanol is renewable as ethanol can be made by fermentation of sugar
 and sugar is a crop that can be grown.
Orders of Magnitude

• Order of magnitude calculations are used when the exact number is not crucial. Instead a rough
approximation or estimate of the quantity is sufficient.
• 10 is an easy number to multiply or divide by so when carrying out order of magnitude calculations
values are rounded to the closest power of 10.

Power of 10 Number
10–3 0.001
–2
10 0.01
10–1 0.1
100 1
101 10
102 100
3
10 1000

 For example, a mass of 8.8 g is rounded to 10 g.

 Order of magnitude calculations are useful when a quick estimate of an answer is needed. They are
also useful to check if a more precise value that has been calculated is reasonable.
Example 1
 A carbon atom has a diameter of 140 pm. Estimate the number of carbon atoms bonded side by
side in a pencil lead of diameter 3 mm.
 (1 pm  1 ´ 10–12 m)

Step 1:
 Round 140 pm to the closest power of 10.
 To the closest power of 10, 140 pm is 100 pm.

Step 2:
 Round 3 mm to the closest power of 10.
 To the closest power of 10, 3 mm is 1 mm.

Step 3:
 Convert both rounded values to the same unit, in this case metres:
 100 pm  100 ´ 10–12 m  1 ´ 10–10 m
 1 mm  0.001 m or 1 ´ 10–3 m

Step 4:
 Estimate how many times 1 ´ 10–10 m goes into 1 ´ 10–3 m
1×10–3 m
 1×10 –10 m  1 ´ 107
 Therefore, you can estimate that a typical pencil lead contains approximately 1 ´ 107 carbon atoms
across its diameter.
Questions
1 Complete the following calculations involving numbers rounded to the closest power of 10.
Express your answers in both decimal and standard form.
a (1 ´ 103) ´ (1 ´ 10–5)

0.01 or 1 ´ 10–2 (2 marks)

1×102
b 1×106

0.0001 or 1 ´ 10–4 (2 marks)

c 0.1 ´ 10 000

1000 or 1 ´ 103 (2 marks)

10
d 0 .001
10 000 or 1 ´ 104 (2 marks)

2 Crude oil is an important natural resource. It is used to make polymers and petrochemicals as well as
supplying the petrol, diesel, and kerosene we need for transport. Carry out order of magnitude
calculations to estimate the answers to questions (a)–(d).
a In 2013 the world consumption of oil was estimated at 3.3 ´ 1010 barrels per year.
The world reserves of oil in 2013 were estimated as 1.324 ´ 1012 barrels.
Estimate how many years the current reserves of oil will last assuming that consumption remains
at the 2013 rate.
3.3 ´ 1010 barrels per year ≈ 1 ´ 1010 barrels per year (1 mark)

1.324 ´ 1012 barrels ≈ 1 ´ 1012 barrels (1 mark)

1 ×10 12 barrels
10
Years current reserves of oil will last 1 ×10 barrels per year  100 years
3 This question is about the production of cotton.
The table gives the population and annual cotton production of some different countries in 2012.

Annual production
Country Population
of cotton in tonnes)
China 1 343 239 923 6 840 000
India 1 205 073 612 5 321 000
US 313 847 465 3 598 000
Pakistan 190 291 129 2 215 000
Brazil 205 716 890 1 638 103
Turkey 79 749 461 851 000
Australia 22 015 576 973 497
Argentina 42 192 494 210 000
Turkmenistan 5 054 828 198 000
World 7 057 075 000 25 955 096

a By how many orders of magnitude is the population of India bigger than the population of Pakistan?
Population of India  1 205 073 612 ≈ 1 ´ 109 (1 mark)
Population of Pakistan  190 291 129 ≈ 1 ´ 10 8
(1 mark)
1×109
8
Order of magnitude difference  1×10  10 times bigger (1 mark)

 1 order of magnitude (1 mark)

b i Which country has the highest annual production of cotton?

China (1 mark)

ii Carry out an order of magnitude calculation to estimate the annual production of cotton
per person in Australia.
Annual production of cotton  973 497 tonnes ≈ 1 ´ 106 tonnes (1 mark)
Population of Australia  22 015 576 ≈ 1 ´ 10 people
7
(1 mark)
1×10 6 tonnes
7
Annual production of cotton per person  1×10 people  0.1 tonnes/person (1 mark)
iii If farmers harvest approximately 0.3 tonnes of cotton per acre of land per year, estimate
how much land must be dedicated to cotton farms in the US.
0.3 tonnes per acre ≈ 0.1 tonnes per acre (1 mark
Annual production of cotton  3 598 000 tonnes ≈ 1 ´ 10 tonnes
6
(1 mark
1×106 tonnes
Land dedicated to cotton farming  0.1 tonnes / acre  1 ´ 107 acres (1 mark
c Is cotton a finite or a renewable resource? Explain your answer.
Cotton is a renewable resource. (1 mark)
More can easily be regrown and harvested. (1 mark)
Water safe to drink

1. Explain the difference between potable water and pure water.

Potable water that is safe to drink or to use for food preparation, without risk of health problems.
Non-potable water is generally all raw water that is untreated, such as from lakes, rivers, ground water,
natural springs and aquifers (underground sources)
Potable water will contain low levels of minerals, gases and microbes.
Pure water only contains H2O, will boil at 100 degrees and have a pH of 7.

2. Name three sources of potable water.

Rivers, lakes and aquifers

3. Explain why the water needs to be treated before being fed into public supply.
To remove impurities and microbes

4. Describe what happens at the three main stages of water treatment

Filtration Sedimentation Sterilisation

The water is sprayed onto Aluminium sulfate and lime is Chlorine gas is injected into the
specially-prepared layers of sand added which causes tiny solid water to sterilise it.
and gravel. As it trickles through, particles (which would pass The chlorine kills microbes
different-sized insoluble solids through a filter) to clump (chlorination).
are removed. together into larger particles. Alternatively, ozone can be
The filter beds are cleaned These can then be allowed to added or UV light used.
periodically by pumping clean settle out or may be filtered.
water backwards through the
filter.
Desalination

1. Define the term ‘desalination’.

Removal of salt (sodium chloride) and other minerals from the sea water to make it suitable for
human consumption and/or industrial use

2. There are two methods of purifying sea water.

What are the disadvantages of using either techniques?
Distillation Reverse Osmosis

How it works? How it works?

Water is heated and evaporated, leaving behind Uses membranes to separate the dissolved salts.
the dissolved salts.
Disadvantage Disadvantage

Requires a large amount of energy, which makes it Uses energy to make high pressures needed
expensive

Purity of water
1. How could you test that the water is pure?
Pure water boils at 100oC

2. Anhydrous copper sulfate or cobalt chloride can be used to test for the presence of water.
What are the colour changes observed?
Salt anhydrous (no water) hydrated (contains water)
copper sulfate white blue
cobalt chloride blue pink

3. Why aren’t anhydrous copper sulfate or cobalt chloride used to test the purity of water

Only test for presence of water, so all aqueous solutions test positive
Treating waste water
Complete the flow map by describing what happens at each stage:

Sewage Pumping Screening: Primary Sedimentation:

arrives station Removes large solid objects Solid sediments settle
arrives and grit using a metal grid Sludge is removed for further
treatment.

‘Sludge Digestion’ (anaerobic):

Bacteria in absence of oxygen
break down organic matter
May be dried out to form ‘cake’ Secondary Sedimentation: Biological Treatment:
Solid sediments settle Watery liquid (effluent) Bacteria
feed on remaining organic matter
breaking them down aerobically

Uses of Sludge:
Biogas – renewable source of Final treatment:
energy – generate May be filtered by passing through
electricity/heating bed of sand River
Fertilisers Water may be sterilised – O3ozone,
Cl2, UV

1 a What do we call sewage water after it has been treated in a sewage plant?

effluent (1 mark)

b The sewage sludge is not wasted. Name one commercial use of this sludge.

fertiliser or as a source of renewable energy (biogas) (1 mark)

2 Name the gas used to disinfect the water before releasing it back into the river.

chlorine or ozone (1 mark)

3 State the difference between ‘sewage’ and ‘sewerage’?

Sewage is the waste water from houses and factories.

Sewerage are the pipes and system that carries this waste water to the sewage treatment plant
(2 marks)

4 During sewage treatment ‘aerobic bacteria’ are used. Explain what these bacteria
do and what conditions they are used under.
Aerobic bacteria work best in the presence of oxygen.

The tank is aerated by bubbling air through the waste water.

Such bacteria feed on remaining organic matter in the water and any harmful

microorganisms still present, breaking them down.

(3 marks)
5 The sewage sludge that results from sewage treatment is itself treated with
bacteria but this time ‘anaerobic bacteria’.
a Identify the conditions for these bacteria to work.
Anaerobic bacteria work best in the absence of oxygen;

around 30 days are required at a temperature of about 35−55 °C.

(2 marks)

b Name the gas produced under these conditions and what it can be used for.
methane is released (1)

which can be burnt to make electricity (1)

(2 marks)

Evaluation of sources of potable water (6 marks)

Evaluate the use of waste water, salt water and ground water as sources of potable water.

any six from:

Ground water
• ground water from aquifer: easiest to make potable as already passed through layers of sand /
gravel / rock so filtered, Ground water from reservoir etc – filtered / sedimentation first then…
• just needs sterilising by adding chlorine or ozone, or passing ultra-violet light through it to reduce
number of microbes,
• process uses less energy than desalination of salt water by distillation or by reverse osmosis,
• but takes longer;
Waste water
• needs screening, primary treatment / sedimentation, secondary treatment / aerobic breakdown, final
treatment, followed by sedimentation (and filtering) to remove useful microorganisms and sterilisation,
• starts with many more harmful substances and microorganisms → potential health hazard compared
with salt water;
Salt water
• high costs and energy requirements of setting up and running distillation plant (under reduced
pressure) or reverse osmosis plant
Summary
Depends on circumstances when deciding between waste water or salt water as a source of potable
water, as there may not be a good ground water source present, but ground water is the best source
overall due to the reasons above.