1. WATER Stewardship, QUALITY & Treatment
Lessons & Webquest
Mrs. McAven
8th Grade Science
Riverwood Middle School

2. Water Quality Vocabulary Create a Quizlet SET
Stewardship -
Remote Sensing
Ground truthing
Environmental Protection Agency
Water Treatment Plant
Raw Water Intake
Filtering/Screening
Coagulation
Flocculation
Sedimentation
Settling Basin
Second Filtration
Disinfecting
Storage
Distribution
Pathogens -
Toxins -
Nitrates -
Phosphates -
pH -
Turbidity -
Bioindicators -
organic -
Phytoplankton -
Algae -
Photosynthesis -
Respiration -
Carbonic acid -
Macroinvertebrates -
Sustainability -
Water quality –
Potable (potability) -
Safe Water
Pollution
Pesticides
Human waste
Industrial waste
Chemical waste
Stored chemical waste
Smoke and exhaust
Acid rain
Run-off
(Industrial, agricultural, road, residential)
Point source (stressor) -
Non-point source (stressor) -

3. Water Usage Collection Chart

4. Tuesday: pH Inquiry Lab
Separate powerpoint

5. pH Lab Analysis
What is an indicator? Explain the indicator used in this lab.
Draw a pH scale and place each of the substances you tested in the appropriate spot. Predict where soda, milk, soap, antacids and lemon juice would be on the scale
Why is it important for water to be neutral?
How could you increase or decrease the pH of water?
How would the pH of the groundwater be affected if large amounts of ammonia were dumped accidentally? Explain.
How would the pH of a stream be affected if car batteries were disposed of in the stream? How would this affect the aquatic life?

6. Powering the Planet
Brazil has sugar cane. Denmark has wind. Morocco has sunshine. China has plans. And America has politics and indecision… But it doesn’t have to be that way.
POWERING THE PLANET is an eye-opening look at some of the world’s most important case studies in smart energy decisions, and a provocative assessment of what it takes to build a sustainable energy infrastructure — a process that spans decades and requires long-term government support.

7. Powering the Planet
Set up the concept map, in your notebook, to help you take notes during the video. During the video listen carefully to the details (locations, energy terms, facts and figures) and include them in your notes.

8. Thursday: monitoring the hydrosphere!
What does it mean to monitor an object?
Why do we need to monitor our hydrosphere?

9. monitoring the hydrosphere!
Remote Sensing: the scanning of the earth by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to obtain information about it. Works best over LARGE areas.
Ground Truthing: is when a person visits a site and gathers data to draw a map of the site. Works best over small areas.

10. Water is essential to life….

11. Water quality determines the health of ecosystems, human activity and human existence. It supports the human, animal, plant, and ALL living organisms functions. Without water the world would be a dry desert land with NO life.

12. It creates the weather that makes life possible
It creates the weather that makes life possible. The oceans are a huge store of energy that regulates the temperature of the planet and keeps it at a level that allows us to live on the planet. It also allows for things like rain to fall giving us a source of fresh water. Without rain all of the water would eventually end up in the oceans and be too salty to support life.

13. What are the different terms to describe water quality?
An array of chemical, physical, and biological measurements is used to define water quality:
Potable water = water that is safe to drink (drinking water)
Safe water = can be used for cleaning and bathing (NOT drinking)
*The terms can be confusing. Be careful!

14. How do we monitor what is potable water and what is safe water?

15. U.S. Environmental protection agency
An independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment
Sets maximum levels for the 90 most commonly occurring water contaminants.
Outlines the goals for a body of water by identifying its uses, protecting those uses, and establishing provisions to protect and preserve the water bodies for long term.

16. why we need to clean our water:
Choose one for each activity. Which water would you be willing to…
- take a bath in?
- drink?
- cook with?
- brush your teeth with?
You may only choose each bottle once.

17. why we need to clean our water:
Choose one for each activity. Which water would you be willing to…
- take a bath in?
- drink?
- cook with?
- brush your teeth with?
Water Sample # Observation
  1 Very Clean River
2 Semi-clean Lake (some bacteria & silt)
3 City (what comes out of your faucet)
4 Bottle water containing deadly bacteria

18. Let’s discuss…. What is the biggest problem with water quality?
What factors affect water quality?
Would you be willing to drink the water if it was rust colored or had a funny smell?
What substances can be found in water?
Are all substances found in water harmful? Explain
How do you think scientists determine the health of a body of water?
What types of data would you analyze to predict the health of our water systems?

19. What is water pollution?
Read the full article here to get an understanding for water pollution:

20. Point source pollution & Non-point source pollution
The following slides and these websites will help you fill in your t-chart.
Read through each section carefully.
#1 site:
#2 site:
#3 site:

21. Water pollution is any contamination of water with chemicals or other foreign substances that are detrimental to human, plant, or animal health. Worldwide, nearly 2 billion people drink contaminated water that could be harmful to their health.
Non-point sources pollution- a widely spread source of pollution that can’t be tied to a specific point of origin.
Example: Acid rain entering the water cycle from pollutants being released from smokestacks. It enters the cycle and is harmful to fish and other creatures in fresh water lakes and streams.
Point sources pollution- a specific source of pollution that can be identified.
Example: An industrial company spewing sewage into a nearby stream through a single pipe.

22. Video BREAK…Let’s Think
Why care about water?:

23. Different types of pollutants
To what degree does development and urbanization affect water sources for humans and wildlife?
Use the following slides and this website to explore the different types of pollutants.
Protecting Water:

24. Different types of pollutants
Pesticides: chemicals that are used to kill insects and other organisms. These chemicals are washed off of plants (chemical run off) when it rains and are soaked up in the ground soil or flushed in a nearby water source. The chemicals tend to build up in human and animals bodies causing long term health problems. (Arsenic and DDT)
Human waste: human activities cause most water pollution. 150 years ago, human waste was dumped into drinking water causing diseases like cholera to spread and kill. Dumping of human waste, such as septic tank leakage, and illegal dumping are still issues today.
Industrial waste- is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills and mines. It has existed since the outset of the industrial revolution. Sewage treatment can be used to clean water tainted with industrial waste.
Industrial waste examples: paints, paper products, industrial by-products, metals, radioactive wastes

25. Chemical waste- factory processes involve toxic chemicals and strong acids. Toxic waste is released as a result of manufacturing. Laws try and control point sources of many chemical pollutions, however some factories still illegally release these chemicals.
Stored chemical wastes in barrels cause nonpoint sources of pollution. These barrels tend to leak and can affect wildlife and water sources from afar.

26. Smoke and exhaust : The burning of coal or other harmful materials from factories and car engines are another nonpoint source of water pollution. When coal, oil, and gasoline are burned they are released into the atmosphere as nitrogen and sulfur. This is pollution entering the water cycle as acid rain.
Acid rain: when rain or any other form of precipitation is highly acidic, causing damage to human and wildlife.

27. Water Treatment Processes Reasons & Review
Why do we need to treat our drinking water?
Industrial runoff
Agricultural runoff
Road runoff
Residential runoff

28. Industrial Runoff
Some industrial facilities generate ordinary domestic sewage that can run off into sewage drains.
Industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations of conventional pollutants (e.g. oil and grease), toxic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals, volatile organic compounds) or other nonconventional pollutants such as ammonia, need specialized treatment systems.

29. Agricultural Runoff
Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) are typically applied to farmland as commercial fertilizer; animal manure; or spraying of municipal or industrial wastewater (effluent) or sludge.
Nitrates and phosphates derived from these can pose health risks to humans if they end up in the drinking water.
Sediment (loose soil) washed off fields is the largest source of agricultural pollution in the United States

30. Road Runoff
Sediments from construction sites and discharge of toxic chemicals such as motor fuels and concrete washout into the storm drains.

31. Residential/urban runoff
surface runoff of rainwater created by urbanization.
This runoff is a major source of urban flooding and water pollution in urban communities worldwide.

32. EXTRAS http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/water-treatment