Session 6

Chapter 7

Living in the World We've Made

 

 

Chapter Seven Flashcards:

Chapter Seven Slides
 
Key Concepts
  1. The inputs and outputs of today’s cities reflect important 19th-century decisions about infrastructure as well as 20th-century developments.
  2. As shown in Figure 7.2 in the textbook, three major types of household waste leave the home as two waste streams.
  3. In some communities, storm runoff and/or industrial wastes join the flow of municipal wastewater in the sanitary sewer system.
  4. The three main objectives of sewage treatment serve the larger goal of producing a waste stream that can safely be released into a body of water.
  5. The processes used in municipal wastewater treatment (sewage treatment) are designed to achieve its three main objectives.
  6. Nothing ever goes away; sewage treatment produces treated effluent and also a new byproduct, sludge, which itself must be treated and then put somewhere.
  7. In less densely populated areas, water is used to carry toilet waste to a septic system.
  8. A composting toilet offers an alternative to the use of water to carry sewage, thus recognizing the value of both clean water and human waste.
  9. The Clean Water Act sets standards for sewage treatment, standards for sewage effluent, and limits on metals and pathogens in sludge.
  10. Safe community drinking water is of critical importance in public health; conversely, unsafe water delivers a health hazard to large groups of people.
  11. In the United States today, some people use private well water; others either treat or supplement their publicly supplied tap water.
  12. Federal drinking water standards are in place for some biological hazards, turbidity, and a large number of chemical contaminants.
  13. Nothing ever goes away; much of our “stuff ” eventually becomes trash—a waste stream that is mundane but still challenging to manage.
  14. Source reduction is a new twist on an old idea.
  15. Recycling diverts recyclable materials from the municipal solid waste stream.
  16. In the United States, municipal solid waste that is not recycled is either incinerated or placed in a landfill.
  17. Municipalities may also produce other wastes.
  18. Federal regulations govern the disposal of municipal solid waste.
  19. The world is rapidly becoming more urban.
  20. Despite having adequate systems in support of the “urban metabolism,” the built environment of more developed countries also creates some health hazards, both indoors and out.
  21. People living in industrialized countries engage in a wide range of activities and use many products that are useful or convenient or pleasant, but may also carry some health risk.
  22. Among the various hazards discussed in Section 7.7, the potential health risks of certain consumer products and services—including various personal care and household products, cell phones, and tanning salons—were not well documented before they came on the market.
  23. The IPAT equation provides a way to conceptualize the impact of development on ecosystems.
  24. At a global scale, we face daunting challenges.
 
Links
   

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Define or explain the key terms introduced throughout the chapter.

  • Describe how various types of municipal waste are consolidated into waste streams that are treated.

  • Describe the problem that combined sewer overflows are intended to address and how they do so.

  • Describe the typical steps in municipal wastewater treatment, along with the objectives of each step.

  • Explain the key principle behind a sustainable approach to sanitation, whether in more developed or less developed countries.

  • Describe the potential hazards of land application of treated sewage sludge.

  • Explain how the objectives of drinking water treatment are met through the treatment processes.

  • Identify the four major approaches to handling municipal solid waste and describe the challenges of managing this mundane waste stream.

  • Describe the U.S. regulatory framework for managing the public health risks associated with drinking water, municipal wastewater, and municipal solid waste.

  • Describe the environmental health hazards of megacities in less developed countries.

  • Describe the environmental health hazards of urban, suburban, or exurban settings in more developed countries and of specific hazards of the modern lifestyle.

  • Explain the concept of the ecologic footprint and its implications for the sustainability of current development patterns.


Homework: Answer all of the following study questions and email the attached questions and answers in Word of pdf format to the instructor by Canvas email no later than 5 pm on Sunday the last day of Session 6. In the beginning of your emial message identify the class session for the homework being submitted.

Study Questions:

1. Explain how the major objectives of sewage treatment are met through the major processes of sewage treatment.

2. If you do not already know this, find out how the accumulated sludge in a septic tank is typically disposed of after it has been pumped out of the tank.

3. Make a list of some specific situations that you are familiar with in an industrialized country in which a modern continuous composting toilet could be a reasonable option.

4. In your current home, can you identify ways to reduce the quantity of your household trash or to better separate out hazardous or recyclable components?

5. Describe the health risks associated with urban settings in industrialized and less developed countries.

6. Explain the risks of greenhouse gases and the role the troposphere plays in the greenhouse effect. (You will need to do web research to answer this).

7. Explain the role ozone plays in the greenhouse effect. (You will need to do web research to answer this).

8. Research the famous atmospheric inversion of Donora, Pennsylvania. You will need to research this event online. Explain what an air inversion is and what factors contributed to this event.

9. What is thermohaline circulation and how does it contribute to climate change? (You will need to do web research to answer this).

10. Using an online calculator, estimate your ecological footprint and test out the effects ofme variations. Are there changes you could readily make that would reduce your footprint?