Settling basin

Pond in which the wastewater remains for the time necessary to separate, by gravity, the solid or higher-density materials that the water has in suspension or mixed.

Trash

Any material, waste or unwanted product considered as waste and that needs to be eliminated because it has no economic value.

Bathymetry

Study of the marine depth, of the third dimension of the lake or marine bottoms. A bathymetric map or chart usually shows the relief of the bottom or terrain as isograms, and can also provide additional surface navigation information.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

Toxic organohalogens are used today as dielectric fluids (in transformers and capacitors), but were used in the 1950s - 1970s as hydraulic fluids, heat conductors, lubricants, and plasticizers.

Bioactivity

Process in which the body's own and foreign substances become toxic substances.

Bioaccumulation

Enrichment of hazardous, organic and inorganic substances in organisms or the ecosystem by trophic route.

Biofuel

Fuel suitable for use in burners or internal combustion engines of biological origin, from renewable resources.

Biodegradable

Capable of being rapidly destroyed or decomposed under natural conditions and processes derived into safer materials. It refers to the characteristic of industrial substances or products - such as packaging, detergents, etc. - that can be destroyed by microorganisms or bacteria.

Biodiversity

Variability of living organisms in any ecosystem, within each species, between species and the ecological complexes that are part of it.

Biomass

Set of all organic matter from the activity of living beings present in the biosphere. The energy-usable part is known as energy biomass or simply biomass. The term biomass can be replaced by biota.

Biosecurity

Set of preventive measures, aimed at maintaining control of previous occupational risk factors of biological, physical or chemical agents, achieving the prevention of harmful impact by ensuring that the development or final product of said procedures does not threaten the health and safety of workers in health, patients, visitors and the environment.