Final Study Guide

Qanat

Water delivery system channeling groundwater through an underground tunnel via gravity. Formed in Mesopotamia in 1000 BC.

Aquaduct

Water delivery system channeling surface water to cities through large conduits/bridges via gravity. Formed in Rome in 312 BC.

Shadouf

A way of raising water using a pole with a bucket and a counterweight attached to either end.

Archimedes Screw or Tambour

Tilted water screw used to raise water from lower to higher levels.

Sakia

An animal powered water wheel that uses buckets to scoop up water and lift it to an individual.

Early Civilization Use of Water

Freshwater was brought to cities centers to be pumped out at fountains and springs, some of which held proposed religious or medicinal properties

Water Links to Agriculture

Civilizations needed food supply so cities were often in areas with fertile soil. Fertile soil is created when nutrients are supplied via water transporting sediment. (Glavial valleys, volcanic regions)

Anasazi Irrigation

Use of diversion dams in the southwest during 950 AD to channel water to population centers

Brigham Young and the Mormons Irrigation

Use of diversion dams to divert water into irrigation ditches in the Salt Lake Valley

Homestead Act of 1862

Act that encouraged westward expansion, 160 acres of land were given to settlers which meant water for irrigation would become an issue.

Horace Greeley

Helped encourage westward expansion and created Greeley CO which used irrigation practices based off of the Mormons

Early Water Transportation

Civilizations built next to rivers had an interstate for commerce and transportation

Erie Canal

A canal between the New York cities of Albany and Buffalo, completed in 1825. Its 363 miles and drastically but travel time and transportation costs.

Ohio and Erie Canal

canal connecting the Ohio River to Lake Erie

Mississippi River

Major transportation system controlled by the US Army Corp of Engineers

Keelboat/Flatboat

a large, flat freight boat used on rivers

Steamboat

a boat propelled by a steam engine that can travel both up and down river

First Use of Water Wheels

Used to grind grain in Greece in 100BC

Role of water power in the Industrial Revolution

Water mills could power machines in factories connected by pulleys, increasing output and leading to the factory boom of the industrial revolution

Water Power

P= (Q x H x ɛ) / 11.8

97.5%

The percentage of Earth's water in the oceans

2.5%

The percentage of Earth's water that is freshwater

Hydraulic Cycle Inputs

Precipitation and infiltration

Hydraulic Cycle Outputs

Transpiration, evaporation, sublimation

Hydraulic Cycle Storage

Ocean, groundwater, surface water, plant uptake

Precipitation

Atmospheric moisture is too great to be suspended and water droplets fall to the earth in many forms

Evaporation

Water changing from liquid to gas through heating and vaporization

Infiltration

Water entering the soil

Doppler radar

A device used to predict rainfall based on the intensity of radar echoes

Coriolis effect

The effect of Earth's rotation on the direction of winds and currents.

Lake

Natural surface level body of water formed from precipitation, usually created by glaciers or earthquakes

Reservoir

A man made surface level body of water

Groundwater Recharge

Water added to groundwater through percolation through soil

Groundwater Discharge

Water from groundwater lost as surface bodies like streams and lakes

Soil Water Balance

ET=Sf-Si+P+I-D

Climate

The long-term average atmospheric condition at a particular location

Global Air Currents

Caused by uneven heating of the Earth, warmer at the equator as air rises and cooler near the poles where air sinks

Global Ocean Currents

Caused by air currents, tides, Coriolis Effect, and differences in water density based on temperature and salinity

Earth's Tilt

Tilt of 23.5 degrees and causes seasons in temperate zones

Adiabatic

Temperature drops by 1 degree F every 183 feet elevation rise

Surface Water Hydrology

The study of moving water in rivers, lakes, open channels, and runoff flowing across the open land surface

Watershed

The land area that drains to a common point

Overland Flow

Movement of water over the land as rain falls onto vegetation and then to the ground

Headwater

The starts of a river/ it's source

Tributary

A stream or river that flows into a larger river

Upstream

A location closer to the headwater

Downstream

A location closer to the confluence

Thalweg

The imaginary line connecting the deepest parts of a river channel (main part)

Hyporheic Zone

the area directly beneath a river

Ephemeral Stream

a stream channel that is usually dry and only flows after a major storm

Perennial Stream

A stream that flows year round

Intermittent Stream

A stream that flows based on seasons

Episodic Stream

A stream that flows rarely

Losing stream

A river that does not connect with the groundwater table so it decreases in discharge as water is lost through percolation

Gaining stream

A river that connects with the groundwater table so it has a constant source and increasing discharge

Pluvial Lake

A lake formed during a period of increased rainfall in a typically dry area

Littoral zone

A shallow zone in a freshwater habitat where light reaches the bottom and nurtures plants

Limnetic zone

A zone of open water in lakes and ponds where sunlight cannot penetrate so swimming and drifting organisms reside there

Profundal zone

A zone at the bottom of a lake where there is no light so only insects, bacteria, molluscs live

Epilimnion

An upper layer of warm water in a lake

Hypolimnion

the deeper layer of cold water in a lake

Thermocline

Boundary layer between cold and warm water

Stream Discharge

Q = v x A

Rating Curve

Graph relating discharge to river stage

Point Source Pollution

Pollution that comes from a specific, identifiable site

Point Source Examples

Sewage pipes, factories, landfills, abandoned mines

Non-point Source Pollution

Water pollution that does not have a specific point of origin

Non-point Source Examples

Runoff, construction, lawns, agriculture

Temperature

Basic parameter of water controlled by water depth and streamside vegetation that impacts physical, chemical, and biological processes

Dissolved Oxygen

Basic parameter of water controlled by the interaction between atmosphere and water surface where oxygen diffuses. Helpful to fish who need it for blood in gills.

pH

Basic parameter of water controlled by hydrogen ion concentration

Turbitidy

How clear or cloudy water is based on

Inorganic Pollutants

Pollutants that don't contain C like metals, minerals, and nutrients

Organic Pollutants

Pollutants that contain C like synthetic pesticides

Total Maximum Daily Load

EPA regulation that determines the maximum amount of pollution that can be added to water

Safe Drinking Water Act

Act passed in 1974 that sets the maximum contaminants that can be in drinking water without causing harm

Clean Water Act

Act passed in 1972 that regulates the discharge of pollutants into US water sources

Unconfined Aquifer

An aquifer made of porous rock covered by soil, which water can easily flow into and out of

Confined Aquifer

An aquifer surrounded by a layer of impermeable rock or clay that impedes water flow

Auger Method

Method used to drill wells where a screw works through soft material

Hammer Method

Method used to drill wells where a bit pounds a hole in rock

Rotary Method

Method used to drill wells where a diamond covered steel bit cuts through rock

Cone of Depression

The lowering of the water table around a pumping well

Darcy's Law

q = K x i or q = K x (dh/dl)

Porosity

The volume of open spaces in rock or soil

Permeability

The ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it

Transmissivity

A measure of the capability of the entire thickness of an aquifer to transmit water

hydraulic conductivity

A factor relating to groundwater flow that takes into account the permeability of the aquifer and the viscosity of the fluid

Preliminary Wastewater Treatment

The removal of physical contaminants from influent

Secondary Wastewater Treatment

The removal of organic load through physical and biological processing

Tertiary Wastewater Treatment

Any advanced wastewater treatment like filtration, constructed wetlands, etc.

Drinking Water Treatment

Clarification, filtration, and disinfection

Wastewater Treatment

Preliminary, primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment

Clarification

A physical process that removes particulates

Disinfection

A chemical process destroying pathogens

Filtration

A physical and chemical process that separates nonsettlable contaminants

Physical Disinfection

Boiling or ultraviolet irradiation that kills bacteria and prevents reproduction in microbes

Chemical Disinfection

Addition of chemicals like chlorine, iodine, ozone and bromine that can kill microbes

Embankment Dam

A wall of soil and rock built to hold back water

Diversion Dam

A structure that turns water in specific direction