Water Quality

Created by

Mia Tabitha

Cards (20)

what is organic pollution?
material derived from organisms
what are the two major sources of organic pollution?
livestock farm waste and human sewage
what are the two main ways that organic pollution harms macroinvertebrates?
suspended solids / particles can clog gills and nutrients in the waste increase microbial activity resulting in low oxygen
what is a macroinvertebrate's sensitivity to pollution determined by?
their mode of oxygen acquisition
what makes a macro invertebrate more likely to be sensitive to pollution?
gills as they are more subject to clogging
what makes a macro invertebrate less likely to be sensitive to pollution?
spiracles as they are less likely to get clogged
name four clean water, pollution sensitive species of macroinvertebrate?
stoneflies, mayflies, damselflies and dragonflies
name a mild pollution, less sensitive macroinvertebrate?
caddis flies
name a moderate pollution, relatively tolerant macroinvertebrate?
alder flies
name a severe pollution, extremely tolerant macroinvertebrate?
true flies
what is the most basic standardised assessment of river quality score?
biological monitoring working party
how do we do the biological monitoring working party?
collect three minute kick samples, record the presence or absence of families, assign a score from 0 to 12.5 to each family
do pollution sensitive families have high or low BMWP scores?
high
do pollution tolerant families have high or low BMWP scores?
low
is high or low BMWP score good?
high
what is the BMWP? 
the site score = the sum of scores of individual families present
what is the ASPT?
the average score per taxon = the BMWP divided by the number of indicative families
how do we know if the average score per taxa (ASPT) is good or bad? 
we compare our observed ASPT to an expected ASPT
what is the key regulation that is currently enforcing water quality in the UK?
the water framework directive
when was the water framework directive implemented?
2003