Copy of `EPA - Environmental Terms Glossary`

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EPA - Environmental Terms Glossary Category: Earth and Environment Date & country: 13/09/2007, USA Words: 1829

Weight of Scientific Evidence
Considerations in assessing the interpretation of published information about toxicity--quality of testing methods, size and power of study design, consistency of results across studies, and biological plausibility of exposure-response relationships and statistical associations.

Weir
1. A wall or plate placed in an open channel to measure the flow of water. 2. A wall or obstruction used to control flow from settling tanks and clarifiers to ensure a uniform flow rate and avoid short-circuiting. (See

Well
A bored, drilled, or driven shaft, or a dug hole whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension and whose purpose is to reach underground water supplies or oil, or to store or bury fluids below ground.

Well Field
Area containing one or more wells that produce usable amounts of water or oil.

Well Injection
The subsurface emplacement of fluids into a well.

Well Monitoring
Measurement by on-site instruments or laboratory methods of well water quality.

Well Plug
A watertight, gastight seal installed in a bore hole or well to prevent movement of fluids.

Well Point
A hollow vertical tube, rod, or pipe terminating in a perforated pointed shoe and fitted with a fine-mesh screen.

Wellhead Protection Area
A protected surface and subsurface zone surrounding a well or well field supplying a public water system to keep contaminants from reaching the well water.

Wetlands
An area that is saturated by surface or ground water with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions, as swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, and estuaries.

Wettability
The relative degree to which a fluid will spread into or coat a solid surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids.

Wettable Powder
Dry formulation that must be mixed with water or other liquid before it is applied.

Wheeling
The transmission of electricity owned by one entity through the facilities owned by another (usually a utility).

Whole-Effluent-Toxicity Tests
Tests to determine the toxicity levels of the total effluent from a single source as opposed to a series of tests for individual contaminants.

Wildlife Refuge
An area designated for the protection of wild animals, within which hunting and fishing are either prohibited or strictly controlled.

Wire-to-Wire Efficiency
The efficiency of a pump and motor together.

Wood Packaging
Wood products such as pallets, crates, and barrels.

Wood Treatment Facility
An industrial facility that treats lumber and other wood products for outdoor use. The process employs chromated copper arsenate, which is regulated as a hazardous material.

Wood-Burning-Stove Pollution
Air pollution caused by emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, total suspended particulates, and polycyclic organic matter from wood-burning stoves.

Working Level (WL)
A unit of measure for documenting exposure to radon decay products, the so-called 'daughters.' One working level is equal to approximately 200 picocuries per liter.

Working Level Month (WLM)
A unit of measure used to determine cumulative exposure to radon.

Xenobiota
Any biotum displaced from its normal habitat; a chemical foreign to a biological system.

Yard Waste
The part of solid waste composed of grass clippings, leaves, twigs, branches, and other garden refuse.

Yellow-Boy
Iron oxide flocculant (clumps of solids in waste or water); usually observed as orange-yellow deposits in surface streams with excess iron content. (See

Yield
The quantity of water (expressed as a rate of flow or total quantity per year) that can be collected for a given use from surface or groundwater sources.

Zero Air
Atmospheric air purified to contain less than 0.1 ppm total hydrocarbons.

Zone of Saturation
The layer beneath the surface of the land containing openings that may fill with water.

Zooplankton
Small (often microscopic) free-floating aquatic plants or animals.

A-Scale Sound Level
A measurement of sound approximating the sensitivity of the human ear, used to note the intensity or annoyance level of sounds.