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8: Water Chemistry

  • Page ID
    85172
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    • 8.1: Water Cycle
      Water is simply two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen bonded together. Despite its simplicity, water has remarkable properties. Water expands when it freezes, has high surface tension (because of the polar nature of the molecules, they tend to stick together), and others. Without water, life might not be able to exist on Earth and it certainly would not have the tremendous complexity and diversity that we see.
    • 8.2: EPA's Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Standards
      The United States's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates water, air, and soil.  In order to provide clean and safe drinking water, the EPA enacted the Safe Water Drinking Act of 1974.  Since then, this act has been expanded to include monitoring more contaminants, providing information to consumers, and assisting smaller water distributors with money to work toward future compliance.
    • 8.3: Biological Contamination of Water
      If water is not cleaned properly, residents of a community can contract various illnesses. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites can enter a water supply unknowingly. All three of these species are pathogenic, or disease-causing. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quantifies and monitors these pathogens in water systems that serve at least 200 consumers. The EPA classifies these contaminants as being microorganisms (even though a biologist might dispute this terminology).
    • 8.4: Chemical Contamination of Water
      The US Safe Drinking Water Act defines the term "contaminant" as meaning any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water. Therefore, the "contaminant" definition very broadly applies as being anything other than water molecules. Drinking water may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.
    • 8.5: Water Concentration Units
      The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies water contaminants as being primary (regulated and toxic is small amounts) or secondary (non-regulate, less toxic in large quantities, and often cosmetic).  For many of these substances, maximum concentrations allowed are in parts per million (ppm).  This unit translates to milligrams (mg) of toxin per 1.0 liters of water.  In this section, we will calculate ppm, parts per billion (microgram of toxin per 1.0 liter of water), and appreciate oth
    • 8.6: Sanitation of Drinking Water
      Water treatment is a process of making water suitable for its application or returning its natural state.  Water treatment involves science, engineering, business, and art. The treatment may include mechanical, physical, biological, and chemical methods. As with any technology, science is the foundation, and engineering makes sure that the technology works as designed. The appearance and application of water is an art.
    • 8.7: Sanitizing Water While Traveling
      When traveling or enjoying the outdoors, you might want to invest in a portable water purification system. Two of the most common of these are the LifeStraw and Steripen.
    • 8.8: Other Water treatment processes
    • 8.9: Fluoridation of Drinking Water
    • 8.10: Bottled Water Basics
    • 8.11: Love Canal Case Study
    • 8.12: Flint River Case Study


    This page titled 8: Water Chemistry is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Elizabeth Gordon.

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