ASCE PE Exam Review 3-14-17 QUESTIONS

ASCE PE Exam Review
Environmental Sample Questions
March 14, 2017
1. Heterotrophic microorganisms use __________________ for synthesis and energy.

a. Inorganic Carbon
b. Nitrate Nitrogen
c. Ammonia Nitrogen
d. Organic Carbon
2. Autotrophic microorganisms use _____________________ for synthesis and energy.

a. Inorganic Carbon
b. Nitrate Nitrogen
c. Ammonia Nitrogen
d. Organic Carbon
3. Microbiological anoxic denitrification is provided by what group of bacteria?

a. Autotrophs
b. Heterotrophs
c. Facultative Heterotrophs
d. Phototrophs
4. Algal blooms in a pond can result in what conditions:

a. Aerobic during the day and anoxic at night
b. Anaerobic during the day and aerobic at night
c. Aerobic during the day and aerobic at night
d. Aerobic during the day and anaerobic at night
5. Which list gives biological sludge production from lowest to highest:

a. Aerobic, anoxic, anaerobic
b. Anaerobic, Aerobic, Anoxic
c. Anoxic, Anaerobic, Aerobic
d. Anaerobic, Anoxic, Aerobic
6. A town with a 2010 population of 50,000 people needs to construct a new wastewater
treatment facility. The new facility will have a design life of 20 years. The town’s population is
projected to double over the next 20 years. The typical per capita flow is 90 gpcd production of
BOD and TSS are 0.2lb/capita and 0.25lb/capita, respectively. Determine the design loadings to
the new treatment plant at the end of its design life.
7. An industry wants to discharge its wastewater into a nearby river with a flow of 10 cfs and an in
stream BOD concentration of 2.5 mg/L just upstream of the industry. The river has a BOD
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standard of 5.0 mg/L that must be maintained. The industry plans to discharge 2.0 MGD of
wastewater having a BOD concentration of 50. 0 mg/L. Can the industry meet the BOD
standard?
8. A WWTF has an Average Daily Flow of 5.5 MGD. The influent TSS concentration is 210 mg/L and
the Primary Clarifier effluent TSS concentration is 120 mg/L. The solids underflow from the
Primary Clarifier has a concentration of 4.5% and a flow of 50 gpm. What is the % removal of TSS
by the primary clarifier and what is the daily solids production of primary sludge?
9. A WWTF has 4 parallel aeration tanks each having a volume of 800,000 gallons and an MLVSS of
2,500 mg/L. The plant receives a flow of 7.6 MGD having a BOD and TSS of 200 and 220 mg/L,
respectively. What is the HRT of the aeration tanks and what is the F/M ratio and organic
loading for the plant?
10. In the process of nitrification ____________ is converted to ______________ .

a. Nitrate, nitrite
b. Nitrate, nitrogen gas
c. Ammonia, nitrate
d. Nitrate, ammonia
11. Determine the amount of secondary sludge to be wasted each day from a 12.0 MGD A/S process
with influent and effluent BOD5 of 200 and 5 mg/L respectively. The yield, Y, and decay
coefficients, Y and kd of the process are assumed to be 0.6 mg/mg and 0.05/d, respectively. The
process has a MCRT of 8 days at 20 deg C.
12. A 20.0 MGD treatment plant has two parallel secondary clarifiers each with a diameter of 100 ft
and SWD of 15 ft. The clarifiers have peripheral weirs with a diameter of 98 ft. The plant’s MLSS
is 3,500 mg/L and the RAS flow is maintained at 120% of the influent flow. What are the surface
overflow rate, solids loading rate and weir overflow rate for the clarifiers?
13. A WWTF tested its MLSS and found the following: SV30= 600ml/L and MLSS= 2,800 mg/L. What
is the SVI and does the plant have a bulking/settling problem?
14. Regulations for disinfection require a minimum contact times of 15 minutes during peak flows
and 30 minutes at average daily flows. A plant receives average flow of 10 MGD and has a
hydraulic peaking factor of 2.5. The chlorine demand at the plant is 4.0 mg/L and the target
residual is 0.25 mg/L. If two contact tanks are needed what should the volume of each tank be?
What is the required does of chlorine and, on average, how much chlorine will the plant use
each day?
15. Aerobic digestion reduces sludge mass by which process?

a. Anoxic denitrification
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b. Endogenous Decay
c. Fermentation
d. Complete Mixing
16. A mesophilic anaerobic digester is loaded with 10,000- lbs of VSS each day and is operated at a
detention time of 20 days. Waste utilization of the digester is 0.75 and it produces roughly 4.5
ft3 of methane per lb of VSS destroyed. Assuming no solids are wasted from the system what is
the total methane production from the digester?
17. A belt filter press is used to dewater digested sludge. The sludge feed is 100 gpm at 2.5% solids.
The press produces 28,500 lbDS/day of dewatered cake having a solids concentration of 14%.
What is the volume of pressate produced each day and what is the solids concentration in the
pressate?
18. In a facultative lagoon oxygen is primarily provided by:

a. Mechanical aeration
b. Oxygen transfer at the surface
c. Waste decomposition
d. Photosynthesis
19. Two wastewater samples were tested for BOD5 in 300 mL BOD bottles an incubated at 20 degC
for 5 days, the results are shown below:
Bottle Sample Volume (mL) DO i DOf

1 50 8.2 2.5
2 75 7.8 0.5
What is the BOD5 of the samples?
What is the BOD at 20 days if the deoxygenation rate constant, KD = 0.07/day and the temperature
variation constant =1.047.
20. A WWTF design shows that 0.5 MGD of 5.0% primary sludge and 1.0 MGD of 0.8% secondary
sludge will be produced. The sludge’s will be blended and fed to an anaerobic digester with a
design volatile solids loading rate of 0.15 lbVSS/1000ft3/d. Assume the sludge has a fixed solids
content of 10%. What size digester is required?
21. A new landfill is being planned to handle green waste, MSW, and construction waste. What type
of landfill should be designed?
a. Natural attenuation
b. Containment type
c. Subtitle D type
d. Landvault type
22. After one year, landfill gas typically consists of:

a. 25% methane, 65% CO2, 10% N2 and trace amounts of other gases.
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b. 50% methane, 50% CO2 and trace amounts of other gases
c. 25% methane, 25% CO2, 50% water vapor and traces amounts of other gases
d. 90% methane, 10% CO2, and traces amounts of other gases
23. The preferred FML for municipal landfills is:

a. Bentonite clay
b. PVC
c. EPDM
d. HDPE
24. The TCLP test is used to determine if a substance is:

a. Hazardous
b. Toxic
c. Flammable
d. Able to be landfilled
25. An industry discharges 2.0 MGD of industrial wastewater to a POTW. The industrial wastewater
has concentrations of 1,200 mg/L and 1,500 mg/L for BOD5 and TSS respectively. What is the
population equivalent of the industry’s discharge if the typical daily per capita loading of BOD5 is
0.18 lb?
26. Hydrogen Sulfide attack is best described as:
a. The loss of biomass due to excessive sulfide in wastewater

b. Deterioration of sewer pipes due to the bacterial production of sulfuric acid
c. Excessive corrosion in anaerobic digesters cause by the presence of sulfur
d. The forthcoming Chuck Norris movie.
27. An industry is required to use the BACT in order to control its emissions. The BACT is defined as:
a. Bacteriological treatment with naturally occurring bacteria

b. Biologically Active Control Technology
c. Best Available Control Technology
d. Budget Allowance Cost Threshold
28. Baghouses are typically used for removing ______________ pollution from emissions.
a. Soluble, Liquid Phase

b. Gaseous
c. Particulate
d. VOC’s
29. Air Strippers are primarily used to remove ____________ from contaminated water.
a. NOx
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b. Sulfur dioxide
c. Ammonia
d. VOC’s
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What are the main components of a wastewater treatment process?

What are the main components of a wastewater treatment process?

What are some common sludge treatment processes?

What are some common sludge treatment processes?

ASCE PE Exam Review

Environmental Sample Questions

March 14, 2017

1. Heterotrophic microorganisms use __________________ for synthesis and energy.

2. Autotrophic microorganisms use _____________________ for synthesis and energy.

3. Microbiological anoxic denitrification is provided by what group of bacteria?

4. Algal blooms in a pond can result in what conditions:

5. Which list gives biological sludge production from lowest to highest:

10. In the process of nitrification ____________ is converted to ______________ .

15. Aerobic digestion reduces sludge mass by which process?

18. In a facultative lagoon oxygen is primarily provided by:

Bottle Sample Volume (mL) DO i DOf

22. After one year, landfill gas typically consists of:

23. The preferred FML for municipal landfills is:

24. The TCLP test is used to determine if a substance is:

26. Hydrogen Sulfide attack is best described as:

a. The loss of biomass due to excessive sulfide in wastewater

a. Bacteriological treatment with naturally occurring bacteria

a. Soluble, Liquid Phase

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10. In the process of nitrification is converted to __ .