Forests and Wastewater Management

Factories

Forests

Dams

Cities

To kill bacteria

To let heavy particles settle down

To add oxygen to water

To remove floating oil

Scurvy

Dysentery

Goitre

Anaemia

Animals

Plants

Rocks

Soil

Change their location over time

Grow, reproduce, and regenerate themselves

Are made of only moving animals

Can be easily moved by humans

Insects

Soil nutrients

Birds

Lianas

The thick canopy

The porous forest floor and root systems

The trunks of tall trees

The waxy surface of leaves

A diverse forest has multiple species that can perform similar functions, so if one fails, others take over.

Biodiversity makes the forest heavier, so it doesn't blow away in a storm.

Biodiversity produces more smoke, which blocks the sun.

A forest with many animals is warmer, which prevents global warming.

The forest creates a wall of trees that the water cannot pass.

The vegetation and rough floor surface create friction that slows down the velocity of floodwaters.

The trees absorb the floodwater and turn it into wood instantly.

The forest releases oil that makes the water slide away to the ocean.

Cutting down all trees at once to make space for new ones.

Harvesting resources in a way that the forest can regenerate and continue to provide ecological services.

Removing all animals to protect the trees.

Building concrete walls around the forest to keep the air inside.

Only water

About 95% water and active bacteria

Only sand and grit

Chemicals like chlorine

Human faeces

Fruit and vegetable peels

Phosphates

Pesticides

By eating all the leaves

By helping in pollination and seed dispersal

By producing carbon dioxide which plants don't need

By blocking sunlight

They would stop mid-air

They would hit the forest floor directly with full force, causing erosion

They would turn into snow

They would evaporate immediately

By preventing evaporation of water from the soil

By allowing rainwater to seep into the ground through the roots and soil

By pumping water from the atmosphere into the ground

By storing water in the hollow trunks of trees

To remove sand and grit

To kill any remaining harmful germs/microbes

To increase the speed of the water flow

To help solids settle at the bottom

Because forest trees do not allow rain to reach the ground

Because the multiple layers of vegetation slow down the rain and soil absorbs it

Because the forest floor is made of solid rock

Because animals drink all the water as soon as it falls

It releases more $CO_2$ than it absorbs.

It absorbs more $CO_2$ from the atmosphere than it releases.

It turns all the carbon into liquid oil.

It has no carbon-containing molecules.

So they can produce more methane gas.

So they can continuously break down the organic contaminants in the wastewater.

So they can move the water through the pipes faster.

So they can be easily filtered out by the bar screens.

Increased groundwater recharge due to more concrete.

Decreased seepage of rainwater into the ground, leading to more surface runoff.

Increase in the number of natural forests.

Reduction in the amount of sewage produced.

Chlorination

Decomposition by bacteria

Filtration through bar screens

Ozone treatment

Animals provide $CO_2$ to plants

Plants provide food and oxygen to animals

Decomposers provide nutrients to soil for plants

All of the above

Tigers

Flies and mosquitoes

Fish

Elephants

Only water

Pollutants

Only sand

Only fish

To facilitate the settling of heavy inorganic solids like grit and sand.

To allow anaerobic bacteria to decompose the sludge into biogas.

To chemically disinfect the water using chlorine or ozone.

To provide oxygen for aerobic bacteria to consume organic contaminants.

Forests prevent any water from reaching the soil.

The roots and floor of the forest allow rainwater to seep into the ground slowly.

Trees pump water from deep underground to the surface.

Forests create large underground caves to store water.

Producers

Autotrophs

Decomposers

Parasites

The oils would solidify and block the pipes leading to the final tertiary chlorination step, preventing chemical disinfection.

The oils would form a film that limits the transfer of oxygen ($O_{2}$) into the water, hindering the aerobic bacteria's ability to decompose organic waste.

The oily substances would provide an excessive high-energy food source, causing the bacteria to multiply until they consume all the inorganic impurities.

The oils would settle at the bottom and mix with the activated sludge, causing it to become too heavy to be pumped back into the system.

Activated Sludge Process

Vermi-processing toilets

Chemical Precipitation

Reverse Osmosis

By producing heat during the process of decomposition.

By absorbing solar radiation and releasing water vapor through transpiration, which cools the air.

By providing shade which physically blocks the sun from heating the core of the Earth.

By absorbing the cold wind from the polar regions.

Oxygen

Carbon dioxide

Nitrogen

Hydrogen

Fish

Birds

Earthworms

Spiders

Clarified water

Sludge

Sewage

Sand

Littering

Spitting on the floor

Using dustbins for waste

Leaving food remains in the open

Increase in the frequency of floods

Increase in the fertility of soil

Decrease in the earth's temperature

Increase in the groundwater level

It increases the oxygen level in the river

It leads to the death of aquatic organisms due to pollution and disease

It makes the river water safer for drinking

It promotes the growth of beneficial fish

It is a system of open drains carrying rainwater only

It is like a transport system that carries sewage from its source to a treatment plant

It is only found in rural areas

It is used to store treated water

High concentration of dissolved oxygen

Presence of $E. coli$ bacteria

Presence of aquatic plants like Hydrilla

Low concentration of suspended solids

To kill the bacteria present in the sewage

To filter out large physical objects like plastic bottles, cans, and sticks

To separate oil and grease from the water

To allow the sand and grit to settle at the bottom

The trees actively pump cold water from the ground into the air

The dense canopy shades the ground and transpiration from leaves provides a cooling effect

The animals in the forest use fans to keep the area cool

The dark color of the humus reflects all the heat back into space