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All 10 Flashcards — Types and sources of water pollution
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Question
What is a point source of water pollution?
Answer
A point source is pollution from a single, identifiable location such as a pipe, drain, or factory outlet.
💡 Hint
Single identifiable source.
Question
Point vs non-point pollution: what is the key difference?
Answer
Point sources come from one identifiable outlet; non-point sources are diffuse runoff from many places.
💡 Hint
One outlet vs many.
Question
What is a non-point source of water pollution?
Answer
A non-point source is diffuse pollution spread across a wide area, such as agricultural runoff or urban stormwater, with no single discharge point.
💡 Hint
Diffuse across landscape.
Question
Which type of pollution is usually easier to regulate: point or non-point?
Answer
Point-source pollution is usually easier to regulate because the discharge location is identifiable and can be treated at source.
💡 Hint
Identify the outlet.
Question
Why are non-point sources harder to manage than point sources?
Answer
Because pollution is spread across many locations and varies with rainfall and land use, making monitoring and regulation difficult.
💡 Hint
Diffuse = hard to control.
Question
Name three pollutants commonly linked to agriculture.
Answer
Nutrients (nitrates/phosphates), pesticides, and sediment from soil erosion (also pathogens from livestock waste).
💡 Hint
Farms: nutrients, chemicals, soil.
Question
Why is agriculture a major source of nutrient pollution globally?
Answer
Fertilizers and animal waste contain nitrogen and phosphorus that can wash into rivers and lakes during rain, especially from large catchments.
💡 Hint
Runoff after rain.
Question
Name four major types of water pollutants.
Answer
Examples include nutrients (nitrates/phosphates), pathogens, heavy metals, and plastics (also organic matter, pesticides, thermal pollution, sediment).
💡 Hint
Nutrients, bugs, metals, plastics.
Question
What is the main environmental problem caused by nutrient pollution?
Answer
Excess nitrates and phosphates can cause eutrophication, leading to algal blooms and oxygen depletion.
💡 Hint
Nutrients → eutrophication.
Question
Exam technique: what should you do when asked “why nutrient pollution is hard to manage” in a large basin?
Answer
State it is non-point source from a wide area, monitoring/enforcement is difficult, and impacts can occur far downstream from sources.
💡 Hint
Non-point + downstream.
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