Chp 22 vocab, thanks to Vyv.

1. Water pollution: any physical or chemical change in water that adversely affects the health of humans and other organisms.

2. sewage: the release of wastewater from drains or sewers ( from toilets, washing machines, and showers) includes human wastes, soaps, and detergents.

3. enrichment: the process by which uranium ore is refined after mining to increase the concentration of fissionable U-235. the fertilization of a body of water, caused by the presence of high levels of plant and algal nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus.

4. biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): the amount of oxygen needed by microorganism to decompose biological wastes into carbon dioxide, water and minerals.

5. oligotrophic: a lake that has clear water and supports small populations of aquatic organisms.

6. eutrophic: enriched body of water.

7. artificial eutrophication: overnourishment of an aquatic ecosy+stem by nutrients such
Nitrates and phosphates: due to human activities such as agriculture and discharge from sewage treatment plants.

8. fecal coliform test: a water quality test for the presence of fecal bacteria , which indicates a chance that pathogenic organisms may be present as well.

9. sediment pollution: excessive amounts of soil particles that enter the water as a result of erosion

10. inorganic plant and algal nutrients: chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus that stimulate the growth of plants and algae.

11. hypoxia: low dissolved oxygen concentration that occurs in many bodies of water when nutrients stimulate the growth of algae that subsequently die and are decomposed by oxygen for other aquatic life.

12. thermal pollution: water pollution that occurs when heated water produced during many industrial processes is released into waterways.

13. point source pollution: water pollution that can be traced to a specific spot

14. nonpoint source pollution: pollutants that enter bodies of water over large areas rather than being concentrated at a single point of entry.

15. primary treatment: treating wastewater by removing suspended and floating particles by mechanical processes.

16. secondary treatment: treating wastewater biologically to decompose suspended organic material: secondary treatment reduces the water’s biochemical oxygen demand.

17. sludge, primary, and secondary: the solids remaining after sewage treatment has been completed.

18. tertiary treatment: advanced wastewater treatment methods that are sometimes employed after primary and secondary treatments.

19. maximum contaminant level: the upper limit for the concentration of a particular water pollutant in water intended for human consumption.

20 National emission limitation: the maximum permissible amount of a water pollutants that can be discharged from a sewage treatment plant, or factory, or other point source.

21. eutrophication: the enrichment of a lake, estuary, or slow flowing stream by nutrients that cause increased photosynthesis productivity. Eutrophication that occurs naturally is a very slow process in which the body of water gradually fills in and converts to a marsh, eventually disappearing.