Module 9: Water Resources and Water Pollution
Week of Tue, Oct 27 · module closes Mon, Nov 2 · 30 points
Take Meerk's quiz for Module 9
This module's items
- Case Study #630 pts
Exact due times are in Canvas. Late assignments are not accepted without a valid, documented reason. Make-up exams are not given.
Know these cold
- About 97% of Earth's water is salt water. Of the 3% that is fresh, most is locked in glaciers and ice caps. Less than 1% is available as accessible surface water or groundwater.
- Groundwater is stored in aquifers — permeable rock formations. Aquifer depletion (water table dropping) occurs when extraction exceeds natural recharge rates.
- Point source pollution comes from a single, identifiable location (a factory discharge pipe, a sewage outfall). It is regulated by permits under the Clean Water Act.
- Nonpoint source pollution comes from diffuse, unidentifiable sources (agricultural runoff, urban stormwater). Harder to regulate because there is no single pipe to monitor.
- Eutrophication from fertilizer runoff creates algae blooms; when algae die and decompose, bacteria consume oxygen, creating hypoxic (dead) zones — the Gulf of Mexico dead zone is a major U.S. example.
- Water treatment has primary (physical removal of solids), secondary (biological breakdown of organic matter), and tertiary (advanced removal of nutrients and pathogens) stages before treated water is released or reused.
- Desalination removes salt from seawater; reverse osmosis is the dominant technology. It is energy-intensive and produces brine waste, but increasingly important in water-scarce regions.
- The Clean Water Act (1972) regulates pollutant discharge into U.S. waterways and sets water quality standards. It has significantly improved water quality in regulated point source categories.
Discussion and forum — how to show up
Netiquette from the syllabus: address ideas, not people. Complete sentences, correct spelling. Personal matters go to email, never the board.
Meerk's quiz — open the Module 9 gate
10 questions, no time limit. 85% on your first attempt in a 24-hour window opens the gate. Retakes inside the window are practice — they help you learn, they don't count. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: Your tap water is treated before it reaches you. If the treatment facility shut down for a month, what would you do — and who in your community would be most affected?
En español: El agua del grifo se trata antes de llegar a ti. Si la planta de tratamiento cerrara por un mes, ¿qué harías — y quién en tu comunidad se vería más afectado?