Page 41 - Water Every Drop Counts

GLOSSARY

WORD MEANING

Algae Simple plants lacking true roots, stem and leaves

Anthropogenic Resulting from influence of human beings
Aquifer Water bearing rocks

Bacteria Single celled, microscopic organisms that are prokaryotic.

Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation.eg
Biofuel
bioethanol, biodiesel
Cancer A disease caused by uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in a part of the body

Catchment area The area from which rainfall flows into a river, lake or reservoir
Contamination Exposure to poisonous or polluting substances

The process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter.
Decomposition
The process is essential for recycling the finite matter
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in
Ecosystem a particular area, as well as all the nonliving (abiotic) physical components of the
environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight

Effluents Liquid waste discharged into a river
Ephemeral Short-lived

Excessive growth of algae and planktons due to excessive nutrients enterig
the ecosystem. Human activities can accelerate the rate at which nutrients
Eutrophication enter ecosystems. Runoff from agriculture and development, pollution from septic
systems and sewers, and other human-related activities increase the flow of both
inorganic nutrients and organic substances into ecosystems.

The food web is a simplified illustration of the various methods of feeding that
links an ecosystem into a unified system of exchange. The linkages in a food web
Foodweb
illustrate the feeding pathways, such as where heterotrophs obtain organic matter
by feeding on autotrophs and other heterotrophs.

The set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the
Hygiene
preservation of health and healthy living.
Downward movement of water through soil or leakage of groundwater into sanitary
Infiltration
sewers
Invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all
Invertebrates
animal species

Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing
Isotopes
numbers of neutrons.

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