| A | B |
|---|
| watershed | an area of land that drains into a specific body of water |
| point source pollution | pollution flowing from a single and identifiable source such as a discharge pipe from a factory or a leaking underground storage tank |
| non-point source pollution | pollution collected in rainwater falling over a larger watershed and flowing to a particular body of water |
| nutrients | nitrogen and phosphorus found in fertilizer, animal waste, or manure and phosphates found in detergents - promote plant and algae growth in a body of water |
| sediment | soil entering a body of water due to rain runoff and erosion - clear cutting trees or plowing a field for a construction site or a mine increases this type of pollution |
| toxins | industrial solvents, toxic and poisonous chemicals, or heavy metals such as arsenic, lead or mercury - source of pollution from factories, industry, and mining operations |
| pathogens | disease causing viruses and bacteria resulting from rain runoff flowing over animal waste and manure |
| urban runoff | increasing the amount of non-porous surfaces in a suburb or a city through the construction of houses, roads, buildings, sidewalks, and parking lots - contributes significantly to non-point source pollution by gasoline, oil and trash |
| rural (agricultural) runoff | removing forests and prairie grasslands to make agricultural and livestock farmland - contributes significantly to non-point source pollution by fertilizers, pesticides, nutrients, bacteria and soil erosion |
| thermal pollution | discharge of heated water into a lake or stream - an increase in temperature lowers the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of the water - can result in a fish kill |
| dissolved oxygen (DO) | the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water - warmer water holds less oxygen/colder water holds more oxygen |
| groundwater | supply of fresh water that is found under the earth's surface in underground rock formations or soil - greatly affected by point source pollution from leaking underground storage tanks or by non-point source pollution that infiltrates into the ground |
| algal bloom | sudden growth of algae in a body of water caused by increased nutrients from agricultural fertilizer (nitrogen & phosphorus), animal waste or phosphate containing detergents |
| eutrophication | sudden drop in dissolved oxygen (DO) in a body of water resulting in a fish kill - usually caused by the decomposition of massive amounts of algae that died suddenly following a recent algal bloom |
| fish kill | sudden and massive death of a large quantity of fish in a body of water - usually caused by toxins or the eutrophication of the lake or river |
