Glossary - The Drinking Water - page 332

Plain province in the Eastern United States. This erosional scarp is
the site of many waterfalls that fueled water-wheel-powered indus-
tries in colonial times.
Fecal bacteria: Microscopic single-celled organisms (primarily fecal coli-
forms and fecal streptococci) found in the wastes of warm-blooded
animals. Their presence in water is used to assess the sanitary qual-
ity of water for body-contact recreation or for consumption. Their
presence indicates contamination by the wastes of warm-blooded
animals and the possible presence of pathogenic (disease-produc-
ing) organisms.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972): The objective of the Act is “to
restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity
of the nation's waters.” This Act and subsequent Clean Water Act
amendments represent the most far-reaching water pollution control
legislation ever enacted. They provide for comprehensive programs
for water pollution control, uniform laws, and interstate coopera-
tion, as well as grants for research, investigations, and training on
national programs on surveillance, the effects of pollutants, pollu-
tion control, and the identification and measurement of pollutants.
Additionally, they allot grants and loans for the construction of treat-
ment works. The Act established national discharge standards with
enforcement provisions, as well as several milestone achievement
dates. It required secondary treatment of domestic waste by publicly
owned treatment works and the application of “best practicable”
water pollution control technology by industry by 1977. Virtually all
industrial sources have achieved compliance. (Because of economic
difficulties and cumbersome federal requirements, certain publicly
owned treatment works obtained an extension to 1988 for compli-
ance.) The Act mandates a strong pretreatment program to control
toxic pollutants discharged by industry into publicly owned treat-
ment works and called for new levels of technology to be imposed
during the 1980s and 1990s, particularly for controlling toxic pollut-
ants. The 1987 amendments require regulation of stormwater from
industrial activity.
Fertilizer: Any of a large number of natural or synthetic materials, includ-
ing manure and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds,
spread on or worked into soil to increase its fertility.
Filtrate: Liquid that has been passed through a filter.
Filtration: A physical treatment method for removing solid (particulate)
matter from water by passing the water through porous media such
as sand or a manmade filter.
Flocculation: Water treatment process that follows coagulation; it uses gen-
tle stirring to bring suspended particles together so they will form
larger, more settleable clumps called floc. .