| A | B |
|---|
| watershed | are of land that is drained by a river |
| surface water | fresh water that's above ground in lakes, ponds, and rivers |
| groundwater | water that seeps down through the soil and is stored underground |
| aquifers | large amounts of groundwater that is stored in underground rock formations |
| recharge zone | area of land from which the groundwater originates |
| desalinization | taking the salt out of ocean water |
| water pollution | introduction of chemical, physical, or biological material into water that degrades the quality of the water and effects organisms that drink it and live in it |
| point pollution | pollution that is discharged from a single source |
| non-point pollution | pollution that comes from many sources |
| pathogens | disease-causing organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasitic worms |
| bioaccumulation | accumulation of larger and larger amounts of a toxin within the tissues of organisms at each successive trophic level |
| artificial eutrophication | introduction of inorganic plant nutrients into a body of water through sewage and fertilizer run off |
| thermal pollution | excessive amounts of heat added to a body of water |
| dam | structure built across a river that prevents most of the water traveling downstream |
| organic matter | biodegradable remains of animals and plants, including feces |
| inorganic chemicals | includes acids, salts, toxic metals; from both point and nonpoint sources |
| radioactive waste | from powerplants or nuclear processing and defense facilities |
| wastewater treatments plants | treatment plants may not able to remove all the harmful substances in the water, but water is treated before returned to river or lake |
| Clean Water Act (CWA) | set a national goal of making all natural surface waters fit for fishing and swimming by 1983 |
| 1975 Safe Drinking Act | introduced programs to protect both groundwater and surface water from pollution |
| land | 85% of ocean pollution comes from this source |
| Exxon Valdez | oil spill that caused much destruction and threatened many species of local plants and animals |
| bottled water | sales have soared as more and more people decide that their tap is not fit to drink and resort to this |
| physical agents | heat and suspended solids such as soil |
| toxic chemicals | chemicals that are poisonous to living things, including heavy metals (lead, mercury, and cadmium), and many industrial, and some household chemicals |
