Test Bank Answers Applied Environmental Microbiology Ch.43

Prescott's Microbiology, 11e (Willey)

Chapter 43 Applied Environmental Microbiology

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

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

3) Cryptosporidium is an important waterborne pathogen. This organism is a ________.

A) virus

B) bacterium

C) fungus

D) protozoan

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

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

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

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

8) 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

9) Coagulation and filtration reduce virus levels about ________.

A) 50–60%

B) 65–75%

C) 75–80%

D) 90–99%

10) 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.

11) 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

12) All coliforms can grow at 44.5°C.

13) Coliforms and fecal coliform are often differentiated based on their responses to ________.

A) temperature

B) salinity

C) pressure

D) heavy metals

14) 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.

15) 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.

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

17) 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. 

18) 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.

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

20) 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

21) 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

22) 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

23) Activated sludge is used in which sewage treatment step?

A) Primary

B) Secondary

C) Tertiary

D) All of these choices are correct.

24) 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

25) 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. 

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

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

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

A) nitrogen

B) phosphorus

C) oxygen

D) carbon

29) A septic tank will function effectively without a leach field.

30) 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.

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

32) 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

33) Microbial fuel cells are an emerging technology whereby ________ are donated to an anode during heterotrophic bacterial respiration.

34) 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. 

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

36) 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. 

37) 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

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

39) Removal of environmental pollutants using microorganisms is called ________.

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

41) 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

42) 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.

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

44) The solubilization of metals from low-grade ores by microorganisms is called ________.

45) Reductive dehalogenation occurs via ________.

A) hydrogenolysis

B) dihaloelimination

C) both hydrogenolysis and dihaloelimination

D) neither hydrogenolysis or dihaloelimination

46) Water reuse is the purification of wastewater so that it can serve as drinking water.