Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Test your knowledge of various Science Olympiad events
Trackest
Member
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: April 4th, 2014, 6:58 pm
Division: C
State: MI
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by Trackest »

Here is an easy one: Describe the three main steps of sewage treatment (primary, secondary, and tertiary), and be sure to include how BOD relates to the secondary step.
User avatar
HELLOIMREECE
Member
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: February 4th, 2014, 11:15 am
Division: B
State: IA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by HELLOIMREECE »

Primary is filtration, Secondary is flocculation, and tertiary is coagulation. BOD is removed from the water during flocculation.
First Year Science Olympiad Competitor
Disease Detectives, Experimental Design, Water Quality, Wheeled Vehicle
Trackest
Member
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: April 4th, 2014, 6:58 pm
Division: C
State: MI
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by Trackest »

HELLOIMREECE wrote:
Primary is filtration, Secondary is flocculation, and tertiary is coagulation. BOD is removed from the water during flocculation.
Sorry, that is incorrect. Anyone else care to try?
Watergirl
Member
Member
Posts: 27
Joined: February 27th, 2014, 9:08 pm
Division: B
State: CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by Watergirl »

[hide]I'm not sure...Primary treatment is the physical removal of the treatment. It consists of coagulation,flocculation, and sedimentation. Coagulation adds chemicals such as lime and alum, which makes the particles in the water clump together. Flocculation is the water circulation that helps the particles in the water clump together even more, which results in big flocs. Sedimentation is the phase where the water "settles" in tanks called "primary clarifiers or primary settling tanks." The heavy clumps of floc would sink to the bottom and would be scraped off. Secondary treatment is the biological removal of the treatment. Bacteria or microbes would be added to the wastewater to break down the matter in it. In the tanks, they would constantly increase the amount of oxygen to increase the BOD of these bacteria. BOD is the biochemical oxygen demand. Some of the matter would be removed and reused to encourage decomposition in wastewater later on... The teritary treatment is the chemical removal of the treatment. They would add certain chemicals to moderate the levels of phosphate and nitrates before sending the water for storage or releasing it back to the environment.[/hide]
2014 Events: Wheeled Vehicle, Experimental Design, Water Quality
2015 Events:
Dynamic: 3rd/1st/3rd/_/2nd/1st
Experimental: 3rd/3rd/4th/2nd/2nd/2nd
Green Generation: 1st/1st/1st/1st/1st/1st
Wheeled: 2nd/x/3rd/1st/4th/3rd
Solar: 5th/3rd/x/4th/2nd/3rd
Meteorology: 1st/1st/1st/_/2nd/1st
Trackest
Member
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: April 4th, 2014, 6:58 pm
Division: C
State: MI
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by Trackest »

Watergirl wrote:[hide]I'm not sure...Primary treatment is the physical removal of the treatment. It consists of coagulation,flocculation, and sedimentation. Coagulation adds chemicals such as lime and alum, which makes the particles in the water clump together. Flocculation is the water circulation that helps the particles in the water clump together even more, which results in big flocs. Sedimentation is the phase where the water "settles" in tanks called "primary clarifiers or primary settling tanks." The heavy clumps of floc would sink to the bottom and would be scraped off. Secondary treatment is the biological removal of the treatment. Bacteria or microbes would be added to the wastewater to break down the matter in it. In the tanks, they would constantly increase the amount of oxygen to increase the BOD of these bacteria. BOD is the biochemical oxygen demand. Some of the matter would be removed and reused to encourage decomposition in wastewater later on... The teritary treatment is the chemical removal of the treatment. They would add certain chemicals to moderate the levels of phosphate and nitrates before sending the water for storage or releasing it back to the environment.[/hide]
Good job! Very detailed answer. Your turn.
Water boy
Member
Member
Posts: 0
Joined: April 18th, 2014, 6:40 pm
Division: B
State: PA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by Water boy »

[hide]identify this organism and its specific relationship with the coral. Ex. Mutualism through ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Crown- ... s_starfish
[/hide]
HeavyHitter406
Member
Member
Posts: 45
Joined: April 13th, 2014, 5:50 pm
Division: C
State: IL
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by HeavyHitter406 »

Trackest wrote:
Watergirl wrote:[hide]I'm not sure...Primary treatment is the physical removal of the treatment. It consists of coagulation,flocculation, and sedimentation. Coagulation adds chemicals such as lime and alum, which makes the particles in the water clump together. Flocculation is the water circulation that helps the particles in the water clump together even more, which results in big flocs. Sedimentation is the phase where the water "settles" in tanks called "primary clarifiers or primary settling tanks." The heavy clumps of floc would sink to the bottom and would be scraped off. Secondary treatment is the biological removal of the treatment. Bacteria or microbes would be added to the wastewater to break down the matter in it. In the tanks, they would constantly increase the amount of oxygen to increase the BOD of these bacteria. BOD is the biochemical oxygen demand. Some of the matter would be removed and reused to encourage decomposition in wastewater later on... The teritary treatment is the chemical removal of the treatment. They would add certain chemicals to moderate the levels of phosphate and nitrates before sending the water for storage or releasing it back to the environment.[/hide]
Good job! Very detailed answer. Your turn.
I thought that in primary wastewater treatment only filtration and sedimentation were used, not coagulation and flocculation. Other than that it was a very good answer.
2014 (Wright State/Lisle/Grayslake/Regionals/State/Nationals)

Water Quality: 8/1/2/1/2/3
Experimental Design: 12/1/5/5/8/37
Road Scholar: 12/2/2/3/3/11
Wheeled Vehicle: 32/6/6/2/11/5
User avatar
cupcakegirl
Member
Member
Posts: 135
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 11:16 am
Division: C
State: TX
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by cupcakegirl »

Crown-of-thorns Starfish
2013 Nationals Results: Water Quality-2nd, Food Science-6th, Crime Busters-13th, Team- 7th
2014 National Results: Water Quality- 7th, Can't Judge A Powder- 6th, Crime Busters- 4th, Heredity- 5th, Team- FIRST!!!
2015 Events: Forensics, Green Generation, Fossils
Trackest
Member
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: April 4th, 2014, 6:58 pm
Division: C
State: MI
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by Trackest »

HeavyHitter406 wrote:
Trackest wrote:
Watergirl wrote:[hide]I'm not sure...Primary treatment is the physical removal of the treatment. It consists of coagulation,flocculation, and sedimentation. Coagulation adds chemicals such as lime and alum, which makes the particles in the water clump together. Flocculation is the water circulation that helps the particles in the water clump together even more, which results in big flocs. Sedimentation is the phase where the water "settles" in tanks called "primary clarifiers or primary settling tanks." The heavy clumps of floc would sink to the bottom and would be scraped off. Secondary treatment is the biological removal of the treatment. Bacteria or microbes would be added to the wastewater to break down the matter in it. In the tanks, they would constantly increase the amount of oxygen to increase the BOD of these bacteria. BOD is the biochemical oxygen demand. Some of the matter would be removed and reused to encourage decomposition in wastewater later on... The teritary treatment is the chemical removal of the treatment. They would add certain chemicals to moderate the levels of phosphate and nitrates before sending the water for storage or releasing it back to the environment.[/hide]
Good job! Very detailed answer. Your turn.
I thought that in primary wastewater treatment only filtration and sedimentation were used, not coagulation and flocculation. Other than that it was a very good answer.
Sewage treatment does use coagulation and flocculation in its primary treatment in order to remove heavy solids. The heavy solids sink to the bottom and oil and grease float to the top, where it is scraped off. However, this process doesn't remove most of the suspended biological matter - this is what secondary treatment is for.
HeavyHitter406
Member
Member
Posts: 45
Joined: April 13th, 2014, 5:50 pm
Division: C
State: IL
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Water Quality B/C ID/Question Marathon

Post by HeavyHitter406 »

Are you sure that you are not confusing it with potable water treatment? In the materials it says that is uses filtration and sedimentation in primary treatment (for sewage treatment, obviously) to get rid of suspended solids. Then secondary uses bacteria to digest the activated sludge and reduce the BOD of the water and tertiary gets rid of NO3 and PO3. The steps in Primary are close to coagulation and flocculation, but I don't think that's what the official steps are called. I may be wrong, but that's what I learned.
2014 (Wright State/Lisle/Grayslake/Regionals/State/Nationals)

Water Quality: 8/1/2/1/2/3
Experimental Design: 12/1/5/5/8/37
Road Scholar: 12/2/2/3/3/11
Wheeled Vehicle: 32/6/6/2/11/5
Locked

Return to “2014 Question Marathons”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests