A C
 Acid rain: rain that contains
chemicals from pollution and
that damages plants and other
things it falls on.
 Aquifer Depletion: a term often
defined as long-term water-
level declines caused by
sustained groundwater
pumping.
B
 Biosolids: refers to treated
sewage sludge that meets the
EPA pollutant and pathogen
requirements for land
application and surface
disposal.
 Bacterium: a type of very small
organism that lives in air,
earth, water, plants, and
animals, often one that causes
disease.
 Biodegrade: to decay naturally
and in a way that is not
harmful.
 Chemicals: a substance that
is used in chemistry or
produced by chemistry.
 Carbon monóxido: the
poisonous gas formed by the
burning of carbon, especially
in the form of car fuel the
poisonous gas formed by the
burning of car fuel and other
similar substances.
Carbon Dióxido: gas that is
produced when people or
animals breathe out, or when
carbon is burned.
 Combinend sewer: is a
sewage collection system of
pipes and tunnels designed to
also collect surface runoff.
This type of gravity sewer
design is no longer used in
building new communities
(because current design
separates sanitary sewers
from runoff), but many older
cities continue to operate
combined sewers.
 Certain impurities: the state or
quality of being impure.
 Conservation: carefully using
valuable natural substances
 that exist in limited amounts in
order to make certain that
they will be available for as
long a time as posible.
D to supply one or more plant
 Dump Waste: A site for the
disposal of solid waste in
which refuse is buried
between layers of dirt.
E
 Effluent: liquid waste that is
sent out from factories or
places where sewage is dealt
with, usually flowing into
rivers, lakes, or the sea.
 Ecosistem: all the living things
in an area and the way they
affect each other and the
environment.
 Ecology: the relationships
between the air, land, water,
animals, plants, etc., usually
of a particular area, or the
scientific study of this.
F the cause of a gradual
 Factories and power stations:
a place where electricity is
produced.
 Fertilizer: is any material of
natural or synthetic origin
(other than liming materials)
that is applied to soils or to
plant tissues (usually leaves)
nutrients essential to the
growth of plants.
 Filtration: the act of passing a
liquid or gas through a piece
of equipment in order to
remove solid pieces or other
substances.
G
 Groundwater: is the water
present beneath Earth's
surface in soil pore spaces
and in the fractures of rock
formations. A unit of rock or
an unconsolidated deposit is
called an aquifer when it can
yield a usable quantity of
water.
 Greenhouse Effect: an
increase in the amount of
carbon dioxide and other
gases in the atmosphere
(mixture of gases around the
earth), that is believed to be
warming of the surface of the
earth.
 Global Warming: a gradual
increase in
temperatures caused by
world

gases such as carbon dioxide

that are collecting in the air
around the earth and stopping
heat escaping into space.
 Germs: a very small organism
that causes disease.
P
 Potable Water: is water that is
safe to drink or to use for food
preparation, without risk of
health problems.
 Purified water: is water that
has been mechanically
filtered or processed to

L remove impurities and make it

suitable for use.

 Landscaping irrigation: is a  Pollution: damage caused to

watering system that is used water, air, etc. by dirty or
to create and maintain lawns, harmful substances.
gardens, and custom
landscapes.
 Preservation: the act of
keeping something the same
or of preventing it from being

O damaged.

 Organic material: refers to the  Preservationist: someone

large pool of carbon-based who works to prevent old
compounds found within buildings and areas of the
natural and engineered, countryside from being
terrestrial and aquatic destroyed or damaged.
environments.

 Ozone Layer: a layer of air

containing ozone high above
the earth that prevents
harmful ultraviolet light from
R
the sun from reaching the  Reclaimed water: is the
earth. process of converting
wastewater into water
that can be reused for
other purposes.
  Recycling: materials  Waster wáter: is any water
such as paper, glass, that has been adversely
and plastic that you affected in quality by
collect to be recycled. anthropogenic influence.

S  Waste Disposal: an electrical

 Sewage: waste matter such
as water or human urine or
solid waste.
machine, connected to a
kitchen sink, that cuts up food
waste so that it will flow easily
through the pipes.

 Septic tank: a large, usually

underground container in
which solid waste and urine
are dissolved by the action of
bacteria.

 Sludge/Biosolids: “Sewage
Sludge” refers to the solids
separated during the
treatment of municipal
wastewater. The definition
includes domestic septage.

 Sedimentation: a soft
substance that is like a wet
powder and consists of very
small pieces of a solid
material that have fallen to the
bottom of a liquid.

 Smog: air pollution in a city

that is a mixture of smoke,
gases, and chemicals.