Exam 4 prep
1) Freshwater availability: 0.024% of the total water supply (available to living
organisms)
2) Water in spaces between soil, rock and gravel is called groundwater.
3) Ground water sometimes flows out of the ground onto land or lake bottom through
exit points called springs.
4) Zone of Saturation- Spaces in soil below a certain depth are completely filled with
water
5) The water table-Top of the zone of saturation
6) Aquifers are porous, water-saturated layers of sand, gravel and bedrock (where
groundwater flows)
7) Aquifers are recharged naturally by precipitation that sinks down through exposed
soil & rock
8) Virtual water- Indirectly used water employed to produce food & other products
9) Our water foot print is a measure of the volume of fresh water that we use or
pollute- directly or indirectly to stay alive and support our life styles
10) Nationwide, the U.S. is withdrawing groundwater from
aquifers at an average rate four times faster than they can be recharged.
11) aquifer overpumping [just one disadvantage of using groundwater]
12) over pumping aquifers leads to harmful effects Like land subsidence the sinking of
the ground when groundwater has been withdrawn over pumped or overdrafted like
the San Joaquin valley in California and Mexico City
13) There are 7 states using the Colorado River
14) Ways of conserving the fresh water phase out subsidies to farmers and raise the
price of fresh water
15) Reverse osmosis involves forcing salt water through a membrane filter
16) problems of reverse osmosis it requires high cost high energy Two pumps he with the
through the pipes
17) farmers developing countries preserve water by planting deep rooted perennial
crops.
18) Water pollutants are pathogens- bacteria viruses and parasites, Also heavy metals
like lead mercury and arsenic
19) most cities in less developed countries discharge 80 to 90% of their untreated
sewage directly into rivers streams lakes whose waters are used for drinking bathing
and washing clothes
20) cultural eutrophication the natural arrangement of a shallow lake river mouth or
slow moving stream
21) dead zones have detrimental impact on fish and shellfish populations, Due to low Do
dissolved oxygen
22) Contamination of groundwater by natural and anthropogenic sources of arsenic is a
global problem that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of premature deaths
23) the largest source of ocean oil pollution is from human activities
24) urban and industrial runoff comes from land
25) some prominent pollution accidents include the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker and the
BP Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico
26) The shrinkage of the aral sea was caused by the diversion of water from the rivers
feeding the aral sea
27) A dike construction raised the level of the northern aral sea a partial recovery
28) we can conserve fresh water by raising water prices
29) 1/2 to 2/3 of water is wasted via leaks
30) government subsidies mask the true cost of water
31) We can improve efficiency in irrigation by using the drip or trickle irrigation which is
the most efficient means of water delivery
32) we can conserve water by using gray water which is used water from bathtubs
showers and sinks dishwashers and clothes washers to flush toilets or wash cars
33) We can reduce flooding by preset living and restoring wetlands
34) one major activity that has contributed to the flooding is the destruction of
vegetation
35) the removal of mangrove forest resulted in increased flooding
36) we can reduce flood risk by allowing leeves long mounds of dirt along the banks of
rivers
37) The Colorado River flows at 2300 kilometers through seven U.S. states providing
people with electricity
38) its water is mostly supplied from snow melt from the Rocky Mountains
39) the Colorado River delta was destroyed by damming the river
40) the Colorado River basin or watershed or drainage basin or catchment, a watershed
is the area of land from which water drains into a river stream or body of water
41) low cost encourages waste that is one of the major causes of water waste is the
cheap prices the other is leakage
42) surface water includes surface runoff precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground
or evaporate
43) we're using increasing amounts of the world's reliable runoff 1/3 of the reliable
runoff is fresh water
44) worldwide averages please and residences 10% 34% of the world's reliable surface
runoff is currently being withdrawn
45) the ogallala aquifer is the largest known aquifer in the United states it irrigates the
Great Plains
46) water is pumped out 10 to 40 times faster than the recharge rate
47) the over pumping of the ogallala aquifer is a problem for the future of agriculture in
the Great Plains the positive and negative aspects of large dam and reservoir systems
48) damned water creates an artificial lake called a reservoir
49) large dams provide benefits and create problems reservoirs increase the reliable
runoff available for use and decrease downstream flooding what did disrupts the
migration and spawning of fish
50) the explosive growth of phytoplankton depletes oxygen in the gulf's bottom layer of
water
51) the resulting dead zone contains very little marine life point sources are specific
locations where pollutants are discharged EG oil well
52) non point sources are broad and diffused areas eg logged forest
53) preventing pollution is more effective and less costly than cleaning it up
54) they break down of biodegradable waste by bacteria deplete oxygen
55) the Cuyahoga river in Ohio is so polluted that it caught fire several times
56) lakes and reservoirs are less effective at diluting pollutants than streams because
they have stratified layers with little vertical mixing oxygen is depleted by bacteria
that decompose algae
57) in 1972 the Great Lakes water quality agreement between the US and Canada was
signed
58) building new or upgrading old switch treatment plans helps decrease algae bloom
59) 25% of the fish in the great lake have unsafe mercury contents
60) chemicals used in the agricultural industry for transportation under the home spill
and leak into groundwater which is primarily stored in underground aquifers
61) slower chemical reactions in groundwater due to cold temperatures reduce the rate
at which the aquifers can dilute these pollution
62) in China 90% of the groundwater is polluted
63) non biodegradable wastes like toxic lead and arsenic remain in water permanently
64) process sewer water to make drinking water
65) exposing clear plastic containers to intense sunlight kills microbes in as little as three
hours