Wastewater Treatment Quiz

Answers
 1.
Name the 3 steps of the wastewater
treatment plan.

1. Primary (sedimentation/flotation)
2. Secondary (biological)
3. Advanced
 2.
What is the purpose of the primary treatment
step?

Remove things that float and sink

 3.
What is the purpose of the secondary step?

Eat food and ammonia

 4.
What is the purpose of the advanced
treatment step?

Filter(purify) & disinfect(clean)

 5.
Which step is this? What is the name?
Advanced treatment/Filter/ Step #3
 6.
Which step is this? What is the name?
Primary/Flotation & Sedimentation
 7.
Which step is this? What is the name?
Secondary/Biological/Aeration
 8.
What is the path of wastewater, starting from
our homes?

Pipes Wastewater facility/Treatment Plant

LA River/River Long Beach/Ocean
 9.
Why is important to not flush down toxic
chemicals like drano down the toilet?

Doesnt hurt microorganisms

 10.
What are the 4 tests that a wastewater
treatment plant does on the water at various
steps of he process?

pH
Ammonia
COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)
Turbidity
 11.
Explain what the pH test is used for

Measure acidity/basicity
Measure acid or base
 12.
The pH scale goes from ___0 or_1_ to
___14___. The most acidic being the
__lower__ numbers.
 13.
Why is it important to maintain a wastewater
pH between 6.6-8.5?

Doesnt hurt the microorganisms

 14.
Explain what the purpose of the ammonia test
is

Measure ammonia levels

 15.
What is the main source of ammonia in our
wastewater?

Urine/Pee/Urea
 16.
Name the 2 reasons that ammonia is bad

1. Toxic
2. Oxygen goes down when bacteria eat it
 17.
What is the process of bacteria eating the
ammonia and turning it into a nitrate called?

Nitrification
 18.
Why do we need to dilute the wastewater
sample by 50% before using the ammonia test?
Because the Ammonia test only tests between 0-6

What do you need to do afterwards to account

for the 50% dilution?
Multiply by 2 at the end
 19.
Explain what the turbidity test is used for

How clear/murky/dirty/cloudy the water is or

How much sediment/suspended particles in
water
 20.
Why is turbidity bad for fish?

Prevents them from absorbing oxygen through

gills by blocking their gills
 21.
What instrument do we use to measure
turbidity?

Colorimeter
 22.
Why do we cover the colorimeter when
reading the blank and sample?

To prevent light from entering the

source/sample
 23.
Why do we need to blank the colorimeter
before using?

So colorimeter knows what zero is

To clear the colorimeter
 24.
Explain what the Chemical Oxygen Demand
test is used for

To test how much oxygen in water

Measure how much dissolved oxygen
 25.
Explain the cause and effect of eutrophication.

Cause: Food and ammonia in water

Effect: Dead zones (no oxygen)
 26.
What are the measuring units of pH, ammonia
levels and turbidity?

pH: None
Ammonia: mg/L
Turbidity: FAUs
 27.
A pH of 5 is acidic/basic?
 28.
Does coffee increase or decrease the
turbidity?
 29.
Between the original wastewater and after
primary treatment, what happened to
the pH? Stayed same
The turbidity? Increased, because things dissolved
Ammonia level? Stayed same

If changed, explain why.

 30.
Between the primary treatment and after
secondary treatment, what happened to
the pH? same
The turbidity? Increased, because organisms
populated
Ammonia level? Decreased, microorganisms ate it

If changed, explain why.

 31.
Between the secondary treatment and after
advanced treatment, what happened to
the pH? same
The turbidity? Decreased, filtered it
Ammonia level? Decreased, microoganisms ate

If changed, explain why.

 32.
What kind of organisms were found in the
activated sludge?
Pathogens
Viruses
Bacteria
Protozoa
Microorganisms
Fungi Algae
Microbes
 33.
Why was it important to maintain oxygen
levels during the secondary treatment?

Microorganisms dont die while eating food and

ammonia
Maintain constant oxygen level
Microroganisms continue to clean water
 34.
What is the difference between aerobic and
anaerobic bacteria? What kind of bacteria are
in the sludge?

Aerobic- need oxygen

Anaerobic- doesnt need oxygen

Sludge= Aerobic
 35.
What is the purpose of Aluminum Sulfate?

Make solids sink

More sedimentation
 36.
Advanced treatment involves the following 2
steps:

1.Filtration
2. Disinfection (chlorination/UV)
 37.
What does the wastewater facility use to
disinfect water? (2 options)

1. Chlorination
2. UV Radiation
 38.
How does the plant remove chlorine from the
water?

Dechlorination