Water Quality

Question 1

What is water quality?

Answer 1

Water quality is how water is used, and how it’s monitored by the government.

Question 2

What are the five categories of water use?

Answer 2

The five categories of water use is; human drinking water, aquatic life protection, irrigation(watering plants), livestock drinking water, and recreation.

Question 3

Water Quality is affected by dissolved oxygen, What is Dissolved oxygen affected by?

Answer 3

Water quality is affected by dissolved oxygen.
Dissolved oxygen is affected by;
-Temperature (the colder it is the more oxygen is present)
-Turbulence( the more it moves the more oxygen there is)
-Amount of Photosynthesis by plants and animals in water.
-The number of organisms using up the oxygen.

Question 4

What affects water quality?

Answer 4

The things that affect water quality are;

• Water acidity (the more the acidity increases the more the water quality decreases.)
• The heavy metals found in the soil can enter the water (ie. toxic, copper, lead and mercury)
• Pesticides(don’t break down easily and toxic effects)
• Phosphorus and Nitrogen(Come from sewage and fertilizer run off)

Question 5

How do scientists measure water quality?

Answer 5

Scientists use organisms that live in the water so they can determine the water quality.
They use microbiological indicators- which are microscopic organisms such as bacteria, can cause health problems if they are present in high numbers.
Aquatic Invertebrates- Animals without backbones. Different invertebrates prefer different living conditions.
They use ppm (parts per…), ppb, and ppt to determine the level of toxins present in the water or air.
Water toxins= substance that produce serious health problems.