Deck 43: Applied Environmental Microbiology

Question 1

All coliforms can grow at 44.5 ^$\circ$
C.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Indicator organisms are added to drinking water to test whether the purification process is being carried out effectively.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Primary treatment of sewage involves the use of which type of process?

A)Biological removal of dissolved organic matter
B)Physical/chemical removal of insoluble particulate materials
C)Biological removal of inorganic nutrients
D)Virus removal/inactivation

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Methods used to remove or destroy viruses from drinking water include

A)coagulation and filtration.
B)chemical oxidation and high pH.
C)photooxidation.
D)All of these choices are correct.

Question 5

Fecal enterococci are increasingly being used as an indicator of fecal contamination in brackish and marine water because they die at a faster rate than fecal coliforms thus providing a more reliable indicator of pollution.

Question 6

Molecular techniques using 16S rRNA gene targeted primers are now used routinely to detect coliforms in water.

Question 7

Cryptosporidium has recently become of concern because it is hard to remove from water supplies.

Question 8

In the testing of water for coliforms,the presumptive test involves detection of

A)gas production in a lactose broth medium.
B)sheen production on a selective medium.
C)a gram-negative nonspore-forming rod.
D)All of these choices are correct.

Question 9

Canada geese have become a major source of Giardia and Cryptosporidium contamination of soil and fresh water.

Question 10

Fecal coliforms are useful indicator organisms for the contamination of water by _________.

A)agricultural fertilizer runoff
B)sewage
C)phosphates
D)All of these choices are correct.

Question 11

Cryptosporidium is an important waterborne disease.This organism is a _________.

A)virus
B)bacterium
C)fungus
D)protozoan

Question 12

The presence-absence test is a modification of which test?

A)Membrane filter
B)MPN
C)Virus plaque assay
D)None of these choices are correct.

Question 13

Coliforms and fecal coliform are often differentiated based on their responses to _________.

A)temperature
B)salinity
C)pressure
D)heavy metals

Question 14

Slow sand filtration effectively removes _________.

A)Giardia lamblia
B)Cryptosporidium parvum
C)most heavy metals
D)viruses

Question 15

What is the target threshold to meet EPA maximum containment level goals?

A)100% inactivation of microbes present.
B)99.9% inactivation of microbes present.
C)90% inactivation of microbes present.
D)At least 50% inactivation of microbes present.

Question 16

Rapid sand filtration,used in many water purification plants,is sufficient to ensure that Giardia will be consistently removed.

Question 17

Potable water is unfit for consumption or recreation because of the high levels of microbial contaminants present.

Question 18

Potable water

A)requires boiling to make it safe to drink.
B)is not suitable for human consumption.
C)is suitable for human consumption.
D)requires chemical or biological treatment to remove heavy metals.

Question 19

Chlorination alone will usually suffice to inactivate viruses present in drinking water.

Question 20

The membrane filter technique can be used in all waters and has completely replaced the MPN technique.

Question 21

Activated sludge is used in which sewage treatment step?

A)Primary
B)Secondary
C)Tertiary
D)All of these choices are correct.

Question 22

Which of the following is not an advantage of anaerobic sludge digestion?

A)Most of the biomass produced aerobically is used for methane production.
B)The remaining sludge can be dried easily before disposal.
C)Heavy metals are concentrated in the sludge.
D)All of these choices are correct.

Question 23

Removal of environmental pollutants using microorganisms is called __________.
or

Question 24

Secondary treatment of sewage involves the use of which type of process?

A)Biological removal of dissolved organic matter
B)Physical/chemical removal of insoluble particulate materials
C)Biological removal of inorganic nutrients
D)Virus removal/inactivation

Question 25

Sewage treatment that involves horizontal flow in an agitated aeration tank is referred to as

A)lagooning.
B)activated sludge treatment.
C)trickling filter processing.
D)endogenous respiration.

Question 26

The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)test is primarily a measure of carbon demand and should not include nitrogen oxidation demand.

Question 27

Which causes the most stress to overloaded municipal wastewater plants?

A)Population growth associated with increased volume delivered to the plant
B)Global warming
C)Too many people who flush prescription drugs down the toilet
D)Antibiotic resistant bacteria in the system

Question 28

Purification of waters while generating power and providing energy for monitoring environmental processes is an application of microbial fuel cells.

Question 29

A septic tank will function effectively without a leach field.

Question 30

Filamentous organisms such as Sphaerotilus and Thiothrix can lower the efficiency of activated sludge processes by causing _________.

A)anaerobic sludge
B)acidified sludge
C)bulking sludge
D)building sludge

Question 31

In a microbial fuel cell,why are the organisms fed a rich diet of organic substrates?

A)The organic substrates ensure that the cells remain in log phase of the growth curve.
B)The organic substrates ensure that very little biosysnthesis is completed to maximize the amount of substrate being oxidized instead.
C)The organic substrates ensure that waste products are kept to a minimum.
D)The organic substrates ensure that sufficient ATP is produced to drive the reaction.

Question 32

Microbial fuel cells are an emerging technology whereby _________ are donated to an anode during heterotrophic bacterial respiration.
or

Question 33

In the total organic carbon (TOC)test,microorganisms are used to measure the levels of carbon in a water sample.

Question 34

Reductive dehalogenation involves the removal of halogens,like chlorine or fluorine,while adding electrons at the same time.

Question 35

It is usually beneficial to add nitrogen when one attempts to stimulate hydrocarbon degradation in the ocean.

Question 36

Which of the following contributes to the removal of organic material in home sewage treatment system leach fields?

A)Aerobic digestion
B)Adsorption of organic material
C)Entrapment of microbes
D)All of these choices are correct.

Question 37

If a leach field floods it becomes anoxic and effective treatment ceases.

Question 38

Why are contaminants such as TCEs and PCBs so difficult to remove using traditional methods?

A)They are so volatile they escape into the atmosphere so they're impossible to contain.
B)They naturally degrade into harmless forms that cannot be distinguished from the natural chemical makeup of the environment.
C)They are too toxic to be safely handled.
D)They easily adsorb onto organic matter in the environment.

Question 39

In the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)test,the factor that should limit biological activity is _________.

A)nitrogen
B)phosphorus
C)oxygen
D)carbon

Question 40

Which of these would not be a suitable use of microbial fuel cells?

A)Use of unwanted organics leaching from landfills to power fuel cells.
B)Fuel cells used to power equipment left in the field for long periods of time.
C)Use in developing countries lacking in widespread power grids.
D)All of these are suitable uses of microbial fuel cells.

Question 41

The enhancement of the degradation of recalcitrant compounds by the addition of an easily metabolized carbon source such as glucose is called ________.

A)spiking
B)cometabolism
C)balancing
D)Such enhancement does not occur.

Question 42

Biodegradation of oil in soil is difficult due to a lack of ______________,which is very expensive to introduce into the sediments.

A)nitrogen
B)phosphorous
C)oxygen
D)carbon

Question 43

The solubilization of metals from low-grade ores by microorganisms is called __________.
or

Question 44

The acceleration of microbiological processes by the addition of known active microorganisms to soils,waters,or other complex systems is called __________.
or