Basic Wastewater Operations UPDATED
ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT
Answers
What are the types of water resources in Texas? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Lakes and
rivers, bays and estuaries, wetlands and groundwater
What happens when poorly treated wastewater discharges into a water resource? -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- decreases the oxygen level and introduce pollutants into water
sources, causing fish kills.
What is a fish kill? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- a mass extinction or death of aquatic life in
a river, lake or stream
Groundwater - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The supply of fresh water under Earth's surface
that is stored in underground aquifers.
Groundwater is primarily used for - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- small public water systems
and agricultural irrigation.
Pollutant - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Anything that affects the original water quality.
includes organic and inorganic materials, heat and radiation.
contaminant - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- A health threat
What are the two categories of water contamination - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Point-
source discharge and non-point-source discharges
Point-source dischare - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Come from pipes or concrete ditches that
are monitored, controlled and inspected.
,Non-point-source discharge - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- intermittent, dispersed flows
having little or no control.
Benefits or treating point-source and non-point-source wastes: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔-
1. Prevention of water pollution
2. Protection of human and animal health
3. Prevention of Dissolved Oxygen depletion in water
4. Prevention of nutrients which cause algae blooms (EUTROPHICATION)
Water quality goals: stream standards - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The state of TX sets
quality standards on rivers and streams, depending on the water's use. Water used for contact
recreation and public water supply have stricter standards than water used for industrial barge
traffic.
Discharge limitations - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Permits issued for waste discharges.
Permits can be stricter when effluent discharges into water used for drinking or swimming,
and also if the receiving stream or lake has multiple discharges or large volumes of waste.
What is the maximum fine for polluting state water? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- As much
as $25,000 per day.
Who are the biggest groundwater contaminators? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Cities and
municipalities
blue baby syndrome - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The illness that occurs when we have too
much nitrates in our water, especially in children. Nitrates bind to hemaglobin in blood and
deprive oxygen transfer throughout the body.
hydrological cycle (water cycle) - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the movement of water
through the environment from the atmosphere to Earth and back
Evaporation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The change of state from a liquid to a gas, from
bodies of water.
, Transpiration - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant. a
general term for water given off by earth's surface.
sublimation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- A change directly from the solid to the gaseous
state without becoming liquid (ice)
Condensation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The change of state from a gas to a liquid. Needs
a solid surface to form (dust and dirt particles in atmosphere).
Precipitation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Any form of water that falls from clouds and
reaches Earth's surface. Infiltrates top 1" of soil, will infiltrate rootzone, and recharge
watershed or will runoff.
Infiltration - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Downward movement of water through soil.
streamflow - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the speed and amount of water discharged by a
watershed
Ground water storage - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Large amounts of water are stored here.
The water is still moving, possibly very slowly, and it is still part of the water cycle. Most of
the water here comes from precipitation that infiltrates downward from the land surface.
Another term for this is "aquifer," although this term is usually used to describe water-bearing
formations capable of yielding enough water to supply peoples' uses. Aquifers are a huge
storehouse of Earth's water and people all over the world depend on it in their daily lives.
What is the human water cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Water begins at source (lakes
rivers streams), is treated for drinking, travels through the distribution system to be brought to
the consumer and generator, the water is then used and sent to the collection system where it
makes it's way to the wastewater treatment plant and then discharged into the water source.
The operators knowledge skills abilities and ______ are critical to protecting the water
quality of the state. - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Attitudes
The role of an operator to an employer? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Performing assigned
duties
ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT
Answers
What are the types of water resources in Texas? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Lakes and
rivers, bays and estuaries, wetlands and groundwater
What happens when poorly treated wastewater discharges into a water resource? -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- decreases the oxygen level and introduce pollutants into water
sources, causing fish kills.
What is a fish kill? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- a mass extinction or death of aquatic life in
a river, lake or stream
Groundwater - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The supply of fresh water under Earth's surface
that is stored in underground aquifers.
Groundwater is primarily used for - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- small public water systems
and agricultural irrigation.
Pollutant - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Anything that affects the original water quality.
includes organic and inorganic materials, heat and radiation.
contaminant - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- A health threat
What are the two categories of water contamination - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Point-
source discharge and non-point-source discharges
Point-source dischare - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Come from pipes or concrete ditches that
are monitored, controlled and inspected.
,Non-point-source discharge - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- intermittent, dispersed flows
having little or no control.
Benefits or treating point-source and non-point-source wastes: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔-
1. Prevention of water pollution
2. Protection of human and animal health
3. Prevention of Dissolved Oxygen depletion in water
4. Prevention of nutrients which cause algae blooms (EUTROPHICATION)
Water quality goals: stream standards - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The state of TX sets
quality standards on rivers and streams, depending on the water's use. Water used for contact
recreation and public water supply have stricter standards than water used for industrial barge
traffic.
Discharge limitations - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Permits issued for waste discharges.
Permits can be stricter when effluent discharges into water used for drinking or swimming,
and also if the receiving stream or lake has multiple discharges or large volumes of waste.
What is the maximum fine for polluting state water? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- As much
as $25,000 per day.
Who are the biggest groundwater contaminators? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Cities and
municipalities
blue baby syndrome - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The illness that occurs when we have too
much nitrates in our water, especially in children. Nitrates bind to hemaglobin in blood and
deprive oxygen transfer throughout the body.
hydrological cycle (water cycle) - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the movement of water
through the environment from the atmosphere to Earth and back
Evaporation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The change of state from a liquid to a gas, from
bodies of water.
, Transpiration - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant. a
general term for water given off by earth's surface.
sublimation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- A change directly from the solid to the gaseous
state without becoming liquid (ice)
Condensation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The change of state from a gas to a liquid. Needs
a solid surface to form (dust and dirt particles in atmosphere).
Precipitation - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Any form of water that falls from clouds and
reaches Earth's surface. Infiltrates top 1" of soil, will infiltrate rootzone, and recharge
watershed or will runoff.
Infiltration - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Downward movement of water through soil.
streamflow - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the speed and amount of water discharged by a
watershed
Ground water storage - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Large amounts of water are stored here.
The water is still moving, possibly very slowly, and it is still part of the water cycle. Most of
the water here comes from precipitation that infiltrates downward from the land surface.
Another term for this is "aquifer," although this term is usually used to describe water-bearing
formations capable of yielding enough water to supply peoples' uses. Aquifers are a huge
storehouse of Earth's water and people all over the world depend on it in their daily lives.
What is the human water cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Water begins at source (lakes
rivers streams), is treated for drinking, travels through the distribution system to be brought to
the consumer and generator, the water is then used and sent to the collection system where it
makes it's way to the wastewater treatment plant and then discharged into the water source.
The operators knowledge skills abilities and ______ are critical to protecting the water
quality of the state. - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Attitudes
The role of an operator to an employer? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Performing assigned
duties
