Water Questions
1. Explain the Hawaii Water Lens, how it is formed, how it works, what is the effect of salinity and drilling on the lens.
2. How is DO related to turbidity and why?
3.What are special about aquifers vs. simple groundwater deposits?
4. Explain the problem with LUST: leaking underground storage tanks, cite EPA regulations in your answer.
5. Give examples of two pairs of related WQI (water quality index) values, explaining the cause and effect process.
6. Look up the Minamata disaster, and explain why the regulations for dumping mercury are so severe in Germany.
7. Explain the filtration process in groundwater purification
8. On our Kohala coast, several anchialine ponds exist. What are these, and how are they formed. What will be the effect of resort development driven groundwater wells on these ponds?
9. In the early 1980's on Oahu, there were several environmental disasters, first the Heptachlor contamination in milk, then the groundwater contamination by the ant poisons DBCP and EDB. Explain these, and give examples of how they were caused, and why they were so severe.
10. What is an endocrine disrupter?
Some of these will require wikipedia or other resources, most of these can be answered in the resources listed above.
Check here for notes on chapter 15, your next reading assignment, which you should have read before class Tuesday.
Chapter 15 notes and items to research: Future exam questions.
These are addenda to the reading on chapter 15, which should help you understand this critical resource. Make sure you are familiar with the following:
Potable water-what is it, and how is it used in the US and elsewhere
One explanation Americans use for excessive energy use is that we have a large industrial base. Is this excuse also plausible for our excessive use of water? Is this explanation valid as we move away from industrialization? Why?
What timetable are we looking at for water stress? Is Hawaii immune to this?
In our energy lab, we measure ETo, or evapotranspiration. Why is this important to us? Why is Mr. Emmons so interested in this number on a daily basis?
Make sure you understand all of the elements of the water table and aquifers, including why they flow, and how some might erupt above the surface.
How are the aquifers on our island different from most others?
Lookup the Oglalla Aquifer: where is it, how big is it, and why would someone in New Mexico be concerned about radioactive waste in Colorado's Rocky Flats area?
Make sure you understand the difference between in-stream and other uses of water.
Make sure you can explain all of the levels of evil that bottled water includes. Yes, I drink bottled water at times. Why is Perrier and Pelligrino worse?
Study the graph on Figure 15.6. What is the trend? Why is Canada different from the US?
Figure 15.7 shows Oceania using lots of domestic water. Why?
Be able to explain the different sources of irrigation.
The CWA or clean water act began when, and why?
Los Angeles is actually built on what was a desert. How was this altered? What was the impact on the Sierra and the Grand Canyon? What do you see as the future of this trend?
In 1978, Marin county near San Francisco suffered such an extreme drought that fines were levied for watering lawns, washing cars, and residents were rationed water on a per-person basis. Is this an anomaly or the future? Explain.
Dams provide clean electrical power. Why then has the New Zealand government banned all future hydro development on the west coast of the south island there?
Why would fishermen be in danger from dams?
Table 15.1 is an extensive list. Make sure you can explain each category and pollutant.
We covered BOD and DO in the fall. Make sure you can explain these completely.
Give examples of point and non-point source water pollution. You might want to look over the polluted waters video. FYI: the person who began the Chesapeake restoration project, and knew all of the people in that film visited the elab last week.
What unique forms of water pollution are generated by cities? In the polluted waters video, they demonstrated how endocrine disrupter levels increased as one moved downstream, even though the waste water dumped into the streams was treated. Explain.
Explain ag, industrial, thermal and marine water pollution.
Groundwater pollution is responsible for well water on Oahu being banned in 1982. It was a banner year for Hawaii:
EDB in cornmeal (ethylene dibromide)
Heptachlor in milk
DBCP in well water
Research how the well water was poisoned, and where else this was found.
Table 15.2 lists erupting water disputes. How will the permanent melting of the Himalayan ice pack alter these conflicts? Who do you think will win? What does "win" mean?
The Florida Everglades are not just snakes and gators-research why it is so important, and give a similar thought to the Mississippi river delta marshes.
Romans built aqueducts (look up the definition for this word). How is this done and where in the US now? What are the up and down sides of this?
Waste water treatment will certainly be on your exams in the future, as well as becoming an issue for you to vote on or solve as an adult. Explain the types of treatment, benefits of each, and what they miss.
In the notes folder is a reference to water mining near the border areas in Israel. Explain why these are so critical, and think about causes and effects.
If China runs out of water, one expert who spoke at our elab opening last year predicted that China might invade Mongolia to the North, and perhaps a bit further. What is up there that the Chinese might want?
Two ominous effects of global warming are often ignored: the melting of the permafrost, releasing huge amounts of CO2, and the intrusion of salt water into aquifers and productive food regions, like the Pearl River Delta in China. Explain how this might represent the "perfect storm" of environmental catastrophe for poor, undernourished, overpopulated coastal regions, and eventually the rest of us. How might this play out politically?
Barron's question on ERG:
ERG
Please let us know if we can help.
aloha
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