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CWEA Environmental Compliance Questions with
Complete Solutions.
Prohibited discharges from industrial users to POTWs, as stipulated in the Clean Water Act, are pollutants that: - ✔✔create a fire or explosion hazard in the sewer or POTW. "MSDS" is an acronym for what? - ✔✔Material Safety Data Sheet Safety hazards associated with hydrogen sulfide in sewer systems include: - ✔✔toxic gasses Lead acetate paper is used to determine the presence of: - ✔✔hydrogen sulfide. The following type of flow measuring device can be installed in a pipe flowing full: - ✔✔Venturi. What kind of container and preservative is required for samples to be analyzed for oil and grease? - ✔✔Glass is the best option. Plastic containers are more susceptible to oils and greases sticking to the inside. If sample analysis is delayed, the sample must be preserved to a pH <2 with hydrochloric (HCl) or sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Samples must be kept cool after collection (≤6°C) and packed with a sufficient amount of ice. A chain-of-custody form: - ✔✔is the ability to trace sample possession and handling from collection through analysis. The BOD determination is an empirical test in which standardized laboratory procedures are used to: - ✔✔The BOD test measures how much oxygen tiny water creatures need to break down the stuff that pollutes the water, like dead plants or waste from factories. If the water has a lot of this pollution, these creatures will use up more oxygen to clean it up, which can make it harder for fish and other animals to live in the water. If the water is cleaner, they won't need as much oxygen. A confined space is one that: - ✔✔is large enough to enter and work in, has a restricted entry/exit, and is not meant for continuous occupancy. Industrial plants producing wastes with a high suspended solids content include: - ✔✔breweries.
Whenever an inspector or sampling technician is in a manhole, how many people should there be above to respond in the event of an emergency? - ✔✔Two A major pollutant of concern from a printed circuit board shop is: - ✔✔copper. To find the proper protective gear to use while inspecting an area where a hazardous chemical is used, you would: - ✔✔check the MSDS for chemicals used. Why are gasoline and volatile solvents objectionable when present in a sewer? - ✔✔They can produce an explosion hazard. When inspecting a plating shop, personal protective equipment would include: - ✔✔eye goggles or face shield, chemical resistant gloves, and overalls. A solution with a pH of 5 has a concentration of hydrogen ions that is how many times higher than a solution with a pH of 7? - ✔✔ 100 times higher High pH wastewater is neutralized by adding: - ✔✔H2SO4 / sulfuric acid When working in the street, signs and cones are needed when: - ✔✔over half of the street is blocked. What is the danger of asphyxiation set point for oxygen on an atmospheric monitor? - ✔✔19.5 percent A common technology to recover chemicals from rinse water include: - ✔✔ion exchange. Is an essential part of any sampling quality control methodology: - ✔✔Proper cleaning techniques for sampling equipment What are the types of stormwater pollution? - ✔✔Sediment, BOD, Nutrients How often must Significant industrial users (SIUs) be inspected? - ✔✔Once a year
- You want to measure the flow in an 8 - inch diameter city sewer line. If you use the Manning formula, what additional data will you need to gather to calculate the flow rate in the downstream manhole? - ✔✔Pipe length, invert elevation at both ends, water depth at downstream end, and pipe roughness coefficient. Why are septum vials used for TTO samples? - ✔✔To prevent sample contact with air The scouring velocity in a sewer is the speed of wastewater that will: - ✔✔Prevent the deposition and buildup of solids.
- Flatter sewer line grades may cause added sewer maintenance expense and odor nuisance. The problem is most likely cased by: - ✔✔A decrease in velocity allowing organic and inorganic solids to settle out A cyanide-bearing waste is to be treated by a batch process using the alkaline chlorination method. The cyanide holding tank contains 6,000 gallons with a cyanide concentration of 15 mg/L. Seven pounds of caustic soda and eight pounds of chlorine are required to oxidize one pound of cyanide to nitrogen gas. How many pounds of chlorine are needed?
- ✔✔6. What types of control devices are used to stop and start pumps? - ✔✔Floats What type of pump is used in lift station wet wells? - ✔✔Submersible What is the main purpose of gate valves in a lift station? - ✔✔To isolate the lift station from the wastewater collection system during maintenance Which of the following is not a suspended growth biological treatment system? - ✔✔Trickling filter Activated sludge is wasted from the reactor to: - ✔✔control the sludge age. A method commonly used to thicken activated sludge prior to treatment is: - ✔✔dissolved air flotation.
A metal finishing facility generates nickel-plating sludge from the clarifier of its pretreatment system. The clarifier sludge is 6,000 mg/L and 2 percent of the treatment plant inflow of 50,000 gallons per day. The sludge is dewatered in a filter press, 5 days per week, and shipped off site for disposal as hazardous waste once per week. If the filter press cake is 25 percent solids, how many pounds of dewatered sludge should be manifested as hazardous waste each week, assuming a cake density of 8.34 lbs/gallon? - ✔✔1, Which method below is not used to stabilize municipal wastewater treatment plant sludge? - ✔✔Contact stabilization What is the first safety planning step prior to making a pretreatment inspection? - ✔✔Review the facility's industrial waste permit application and correspondence file What is a common cause of oxygen deficiency in a sewer manhole? - ✔✔Bacterial action that replaces oxygen with other gasses How many different areas of traffic zones are there when working in roadways? - ✔✔Five What does "transition area" mean in traffic control? - ✔✔Moves traffic out of its normal path Permit space emergency personnel must have the following training - ✔✔Enter and rescue procedures How does sewer system confined space entry differ from other permit and non-permit entries? - ✔✔There rarely exists any way to completely isolate the space What is always required when working in a confined space? - ✔✔Continuous air monitoring Oxygen deficiency occurs when the oxygen level is less than ____ by volume - ✔✔19.5% Hydrogen sulfide smells like ___________ (at high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, however, the sense of smell is deadened and no odor is detected). - ✔✔Rotten eggs
of records required to be kept by the POTW, and to set up devises necessary to conduct sampling, monitoring and metering operations. - ✔✔Local sewer-use ordinances What type of waste discharge into a sewer may create a toxic atmosphere? - ✔✔Cyanide waste from metal finishers What is the main focus of pollution prevention? - ✔✔Minimizing the amount of waste generated What is waste minimization? - ✔✔Reduction of hazardous waste What is the primary role of the pretreatment facility inspector? - ✔✔Enforce regulations intended to protect the POTWs and the environment What do current trends indicate regarding future job opportunities for pretreatment facility inspectors? - ✔✔Increasing Why do pretreatment inspectors need computer skills? - ✔✔Become more efficient Conventional pollutants include: - ✔✔BOD, Oil and Grease, Suspended Solids The objectives of the General Pretreatment Regulations are to: - ✔✔Improve opportunities to reclaim and recycle sludge, reduce the health and environmental risks from pollution, and prevent the :interference with use or disposal of sludge, operation of POTW and introduction of pollutants which pass through treatment works What is the purpose of an industrial waste pretreatment program? - ✔✔The protection of agency personnel, capital facilities, the community, and the environment and to provide pollution prevention guidance to industry. What damages could be caused to a POTW agency's collection system by industrial wastes? - ✔✔Clogging the sewers, corrosion of sewers, and explosions from flammable wastes Which areas of endeavor are covered by pollution prevention? - ✔✔Good operating practices, material substitution, process modification, and product reformation
What does a pretreatment facility inspector inspect? - ✔✔Industrial manufacturing facilities, pretreatment facilities, and raw and spent material storage facilities What are the roles of pretreatment inspectors when involved with criminal prosecution of pretreatment violations? - ✔✔Conduct investigations for evidence, develop sources of information regarding violations, ensure collection of reliable samples, and present evidence in a convincing manner Who must pretreatment inspectors have the ability to deal with tactfully and effectively? - ✔✔Industrial representatives, members of the public, other regulatory officials, politicians, and their employers What activities relating to computers should pretreatment inspectors be able to perform? - ✔✔Do word processing, use local area networks, use online bulletin boards, use software database systems, and wire interconnections to equipment What do industrial wastewater discharge permits do? Grant permission to an industrial user to discharge its wastewater into the - ✔✔Wastewater collection system.
- What positive benefit can communities provide industrial companies with regard to industrial wastewater? - ✔✔Adequate treatment services are available
- What is the most forceful compliance procedure available to a POTW? - ✔✔Revoking permission to discharge to a sewer
- What is the best method to determine what industrial dischargers are placing in the collection system? - ✔✔Laboratory chemical analyses
- What does a spill containment program require? - ✔✔Tanks located within a berm that will prevent leaks from reaching a sewer
- What is the purpose of a computer modem? - ✔✔Allows connection to other computers
- What group acts as a counterbalancing force to the environmental movement? - ✔✔industrial lobbying group
2 8. What serious problems encountered in the proper operation of a POTW agency can originate from industrial wastewater discharges? - ✔✔Fires and explosions in collection systems, Serious structural corrosion problems in sewers, and Toxic upsets of biological processes
- What factors should be considered when purchasing a personal computer? - ✔✔Expandability, Relative costs, and Service
- What is the purpose of database management systems? - ✔✔To organize data, To record data, and To selectively print data
- EPA recognizes what two types of dischargers in its efforts to control the flow of pollutants into water? - ✔✔Direct and indirect
- Which pollutant is a conventional pollutant? - ✔✔Oil and grease
- What are receiving water standards based on? - ✔✔Tolerance of stream to pollutants
- The Clean Water Act provides that POTWs may grant removal credit to indirect dischargers based on what? Degree of removal - ✔✔Actually achieved at the POTW.
- What two types of categorical standards are used in the EPA pretreatment program? - ✔✔Concentration-based and production-based standards
- When may civil remedies in the form of an injunction be appropriate? - ✔✔To prevent threatened discharge of pollutants to POTW
- What procedure is required of a POTW for compliance with public notification requirements? Publish in largest daily newspaper in municipality a list of IUs - ✔✔In significant noncompliance with pretreatment requirements.
- How could some companies look favorably on fines? - ✔✔Cost of fine could be less expensive than implementing pollution control.
- What does a local pretreatment program need to have the legal authority, procedures, funding and personnel to do? - ✔✔Deny permission to discharge pollutants from industrial users (IUs) to the POTW, Identify and locate lUs affected by EPA regulations, Perform inspection and monitoring activities to ensure compliance with standards, and Require compliance by IUs with pretreatment standards
- What types of pollutants or conditions are regulated by the General Pretreatment Regulations? Those that - ✔✔Contaminate sludge, Interfere with treatment, and Pass through treatment system.
- What categories of pollutants are regulated by the Specific Prohibitions in the Prohibited Discharge Standards? Those which - ✔✔Are corrosive, Are a fire or explosion hazard, and Result in toxic gases. 22 IUs must notify the POTW of what types of slug loadings? - ✔✔Corrosive pollutants, Fire or explosion hazards, Oxygen demanding pollutants, Solid or viscous pollutants, and Thermal pollutants
- EPA has promulgated both concentration- and mass- based pretreatment standards for which of the following categories? - ✔✔Pulp, paper and paperboard manufacturing
- What are the basic elements of a toxic management plan? - ✔✔Identification of toxic organics used, Method of disposal, Quantity of each toxic organic used, and Use of each toxic organic
- A Wastewater Ordinance may limit what types of wastes? Those that - ✔✔Create a nuisance, Damage the system, Harm the environment, Impose unreasonable costs, and Menace public health.
- Which criteria are used to determine if a violation is significant noncompliance? - ✔✔Discharge of pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, Failure to accurately report noncompliance, and Failure to provide required reports within 30 days after due date
- What factors should be considered when assessing penalties? - ✔✔Large enough to deter future noncompliance, Penalties should be calculated on a logical basis, Penalties should be uniform, and Recovery of economic benefit for noncompliance
- What are the options available to an inspector if a request for entry to perform an inspection is denied? - ✔✔Call supervisor for direction, Exercise authority to enter facility without permission, Issue a citation for denial of access, and Leave and immediately collect samples for analysis
- What are the levels of inspection necessary for a complete inspection? - ✔✔Effluent treatment equipment, General tour, In-plant wastewater control equipment, and Outfall
- What procedures should be followed when collecting industrial effluent samples? - ✔✔Follow chain of custody procedures, Preserve samples properly, and Use proper sampling techniques
- Final industrial effluent meters can provide continuous monitoring of what water quality indicators? - ✔✔Conductivity, LEL, ORP, and pH
- Why are holding ponds installed? - ✔✔Allow for batch treatment, Dampen hydraulic surges, Hold water for off-peak discharges, Lower peak flows, and Provide for evaporation
- Cooling tower bleeds that flow to the sewer should be checked for overdoses of what chemicals? - ✔✔Acids, Algicides, and Chromate
- What are possible types of enforcement actions? - ✔✔Administrative orders, Cease discharge orders, Fines, Verbal warnings, and Written notices of violations
- What are possible sources of complaints? - ✔✔Company informants, In-sewer surveillance monitoring, Neighborhood reports of odors, and Referral from another agency
- Failure to report an injury should be considered - ✔✔Grounds for disciplinary action.
- What Should you do if you encounter an unsafe condition or situation? - ✔✔Remove yourself from the area and warn others.
- How does an inspector determine what safety equipment should be taken on an inspection? - ✔✔Review the firm's permit application and correspondence file.
- What is the BEST source of information regarding chemical products and their hazardous nature? - ✔✔MSDS
- What is the most common toxic gas that is encountered during sampling work? - ✔✔Hydrogen sulfide
- What is the most important thing to remember about entering a confined space? - ✔✔Recognize a confined space.
- What is the main responsibility of NIOSH? - ✔✔Undertaking research and development programs
- Why is a safety library important? The safety library serves as a - ✔✔Readily available source of safety information.
- What are the inspector's responsibilities regarding safety? - ✔✔Apply safe work practices learned on the job, Inform your supervisor of unsafe conditions, Participate actively in safety training, Recognize hazards of the job, and Take precautionary measures which will ensure your own safety
- What safety equipment must be in each inspector's vehicle? - ✔✔Fire extinguisher, First aid kit, and Spill control pillows
- What items are an inspector's personal safety equipment? - ✔✔Earplugs, Gloves, and Hard hat
- What factors influence traffic control strategies? - ✔✔Congestion, Local regulations, Time of day, and Traffic speed
- What are the most commonly encountered atmospheric hazards associated with work in confined spaces? - ✔✔Flammable/explosive gases, Oxygen deficiency/enrichment, and Toxic gases
- Why are some samples identified with only a number when submitted to the laboratory for analysis? - ✔✔To ensure unbiased analyses by the technicians
- What is the main goal of sample storage procedures? - ✔✔To maintain integrity of sample until analysis
- What is meant by chain of custody? - ✔✔A record of every person who has access to a sample
- What is the function of the QA program? - ✔✔To assure the quality of the measurement data
- Why are samples collected? - ✔✔Check compliance with local standards, Determine strength to accurately assess discharge/ use fees, Search for prohibited wastes, Verify industry monitoring points, and Verify self-monitoring data
- Certified laboratories are evaluated in what areas? - ✔✔Ability to accurately run the analyses, Adequate equipment to perform the analyses, and Personnel with adequate training
- What are gas chromatographs used to do? - ✔✔Detect organic compounds, Quantify organic compounds, and Separate organic compounds
- What factors must be considered when selecting a sample container? - ✔✔Material, Shape, and Size
- What pieces of sampling equipment must be properly cleaned? - ✔✔Automatic samplers, Buckets, Dippers, Graduate cylinders, and Inside of coolers
- What methods are used to preserve samples? - ✔✔Acids, Bases, and Refrigeration
- A laboratory analyst can be confident of test results provided the samples are properly
- ✔✔Collected, Stored, and Transported
- When are disposable bottles usually a better alternative than reusable bottles? - ✔✔It is necessary to hire someone to wash bottles and They are less costly than using reusable bottles
- What are the benefits of collecting industrial wastewater samples from a sample box?
- ✔✔A meaningful sample may be obtained even if the wastewater is no longer flowing, Material found in sample box can be assumed to have been discharged, and Retention of some water that is representative of the last wastewater to leave the plant
- Which pollutants can be monitored on a continuous basis? - ✔✔Flammability, pH, Sulfide, and Temperature
- Field tests are the ONLY accurate method for measuring which pollutants? - ✔✔Chlorine residual , pH, Sulfite, and Temperature
- When should grab samples be collected? - ✔✔If effluent limit is an instantaneous maximum, If grab samples have been correlated with composite samples, If the discharge is homogeneous, and If the pollutant degrades in the sample
- What is the purpose of a field blank when collecting samples? - ✔✔To check on inspectors sampling and handling procedures and To document validity of field sample
- What information must be recorded for each sample collected? - ✔✔Field observations, Time sample was collected, and Who collected sample
- What information is helpful to a pretreatment inspector tracing an illegal discharge? - ✔✔Having a good record of possible sources prior to an event, Having a permit system which records all types of pollutants discharged, Installing automatic samplers upstream and down-stream of suspected dischargers, and Knowing locations of major sewers
- What types of errors can be minimized by a QA program? - ✔✔Improper sampling methodology, Lack of adequate mixing during compositing, and Poor sample preservation
- What are the characteristics of a properly operating flume? - ✔✔Distinct and easy to observe
- What types of flowmeters create pressure conditions in a pipe to measure the flow? - ✔✔Flow nozzles, Flow tubes, Orifice plates,and Venturi meters
- What are the advantages of a stilling well? - ✔✔Eliminates effects of foam on water surface, Eliminates effects of rags, and Not affected by wave action in a flume or weir
- When can a submerged condition occur in a flume - ✔✔Adverse flow conditions in downstream sewer, Debris in downstream sewer, Downstream sewer not able to carry flow, and Improper slope of downstream sewer
- What is the function of open-channel flow instrumentation? - ✔✔Activate automatic sampler, Convert depth to flow, Indicate flow, Sense level of water, and Totalize flow
- What are sources of equipment errors in float-opera systems? - ✔✔Buildup of grease on float, Errors in manufacturing tolerances, Float lag, and Temperature and humidity changes
- What are maintenance tasks for float measuring tems? - ✔✔Cheaking for free movement of float and cable, Flushing the stilling well, and Proper lubrication
- What factors can cause errors in ultrasonic flowmete readings? - ✔✔Dirty face of transducer, Excessive wave action on water surface, Foam layer on water surface, and Improper generation and receipt of acoustic pulses
- How often should flow-proportioned automatic sampler' be programmed to collect a sample? At least once every___ hour(s) over a 24 - hour period. - ✔✔ 1
- What are the possible uses of automatic flow-proportional samplers? - ✔✔Determining strength and content of wastestream during a 24 - hour period, Detecting spills or bypasses during unusual hours, Determining maximum and minimum discharges during a 24 - hour period, Filling bottles in samplers in proportion to flow, and Determining billing rate to discharger
- Why is knowledge of the various manufacturing processes important? To understand how - ✔✔Raw materials are transformed into waste products.
- What are compatible pollutants? - ✔✔Pollutants normally removed by a POTW treatment system
- Why should groundwater from leaking gasoline tank cleanup projects be required to have sufficient treatment to allow discharge to surface waters? - ✔✔To save hydraulic capacity In the sewer for other con-taminated flows
- What does the wastewater from battery anode production contain? - ✔✔Lead particulates
- What is the most heavily used toxic pollutant in leather tanning? - ✔✔Chromium
- What is the major pollutant found in the wastes and wastewater generated by the chlor-alkali industry? - ✔✔Mercury
- Which acid is an organic acid? - ✔✔Acetic
- At a large utility system, which wastewater discharge is usually an intermittent discharge? - ✔✔Demineralization system
- Where are the sources of pollutants in storm water run-off? - ✔✔Products which have spilled on the grounds
- Where are the primary sources of wastewater from the chrome pigments industry? - ✔✔Washing the precipitated product
- Why does an inspector need to understand the sources and quantities of industrial wastewaters? To ____ problems caused by industrial discharges. - ✔✔Define, Identify, and Solve
- What factors must inspectors have a basic understanding of? - ✔✔Biological reactions, Chemistry and chemical reactions, Manufacturing processes, and Their own collection and treatment system
