Climate system (or Earth system) The five physical components (atmosphere,
hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere) that are responsible for the
climate and its variations.
Coagulant (a) A chemical (alum or iron salts) added to water to destabilize
particles, allowing subsequent floc formation and removal by clarification (flotation or sedimentation) and/or filtration. (b) Chemicals that cause very fine particles to clump (floc) together into larger particles. This makes it easier to separate
the solids from the water by settling, skimming, draining or filtering.
Coagulation (a) The clumping together of very fine particles into large particles
(floc) caused by the use of chemicals (coagulants); (b) A process of destabilizing
charges of suspended and colloidal particles in water by adding chemicals
(coagulants). In coagulation process, positively charged chemicals are added to
neutralize or destabilize these negative charges and allow the neutralized particles
to accumulate and be removed by clarification (flotation or sedimentation) and/or
filtration.
Coal mine methane Coal mine methane is the subset of coalbed methane that is
released from the coal seams during the process of coal mining.
Coalbed methane Coalbed methane is methane contained in coal seams, and is
often referred to as virgin coalbed methane, or coal seam gas.
Cobenefit The benefits of policies that are implemented for various reasons at the
same time including climate change mitigation acknowledging that most policies
designed to address greenhouse gas mitigation also have other, often at least
equally important, rationales (e.g., related to objectives of development, sustainability, and equity).
Coliform A type of bacteria. The presence of coliform-group bacteria is an indication of possible pathogenic bacterial contamination. The human intestinal tract is
one of the main habitats of coliform bacteria. They may also be found in the
intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, and in plants, soil, air, and the aquatic
environment. Fecal coliforms are those coliforms found in the feces of various
warm-blooded animals, whereas the term “coliform” also includes various other
environmental sources.
Collector A device or system designed to collect filter backwash water, or other
treatment unit.
Colony It is a gathering of all the worker bees, drones, queen, and developing brood
living together in one hive or other dwelling.
Colorimetric measurement A means of measuring unknown chemical concentrations in water by measuring a sample’s color intensity. The specific color of the
sample, developed by addition of chemical reagents, is measured with a photoelectric colorimeter or is compared with “color standards” using, or
corresponding with, known concentrations of the chemical.
Comminuting It is a grinding or shredding operation for reducing the particle size
of objects or debris in the influent wastewater. They are installed with a screen
directly in the influent wastewater flow’s channel, with the shredded particles
returned to the flow downstream of the screen. The influent flow is channeled to
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