Reed Bed Reading Answers

The Reed Bed Reading Answers are listed in the table. Compare your responses to the ones that are given here.

1. FALSE	5. SAND	9. F	13. D
2. TRUE	6. GRAVEL	10. B
3. NOT GIVEN	7. H	11. D
4. SLUDGE	8. A	12. B

We have provided Reed Bed reading answers with explanations so that you can get an understanding on the actual IELTS reading test as well as the difficulty level of the reading module.

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• IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given
• IELTS Reading Diagram Completion
• IELTS Reading Matching Features
• IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions

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IELTS reading passage - Reed Bed

Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage below, should take you about 20 minutes. Review your responses using the given Reed Bed reading answers with locations after you've answered all of the questions.

Reed Bed

1. Recent studies have shown that plants—or more precisely, roots—play a critical role in cleaning up contaminated water before it enters seas and rivers. In the 15th century, wetlands in Britain were used to clean contaminated water. People started to understand the effectiveness of the "natural" method of purifying water. Subsurface flow wetlands (SSFW) are now a popular alternative for treating wastewater in rural areas in Europe. The number and size of these systems in use have primarily increased over the past 10 to 12 years. Rural areas should not use the traditional water purification method that is used in large cities where there is a lot of water that needs to be cleaned.
   
   
2. The common reed can move oxygen from its leaves through its stem and rhizomes and out through its roots. As a result of this action, the root system's aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic zones develop a very high population of microorganisms. This fluid can be effectively treated because the wastewater moves very slowly through the mass of reed roots. They are frequently so effective because a variety of pollutants are degraded or removed by natural biological, physical, and chemical processes that interact with one another in the root sector of the bed.
   
   
3. Water can be purified horizontally or downwardly using artificial reed beds. When a thick layer of root hair has developed, the reeds continue to flourish the best. The roots take three years to mature fully. Depending on the country in Europe and its primary development lines, a particular country may apply different wetlands. In addition to developing wetlands with the horizontal or vertical flow for wastewater treatment, Europe has had great success using wetlands for sludge treatment. A few special design options allow for the treatment of diffuse pollution, the treatment of some types of industrial wastewater, the treatment of agricultural wastewater, and the retention of microbiological organisms in constructed wetlands.
   
   
4. A horizontal system is employed if the water is only mildly polluted. There are two types of horizontal-flow wetlands: free-water surface flow (FWF) and sub-surface water flow (SSF). The effluent in the former freely flows above the sand or gravel bed where the reeds and other plants are planted, whereas the effluent in the latter passes through the sand or gravel bed. Effluent is treated by plant stems, leaves, and rhizomes in wetlands of the FWF type. These densely planted FWF wetlands typically have water depths of less than 0.4 meters. Dense vegetation, however, can restrict oxygen's ability to diffuse into the water.
   
   
5. These systems are essential for tertiary treatment and the polishing of effluents, and they perform especially well for low-strength effluents or effluents that have undergone some types of pretreatment. The liquid slowly flows horizontally through a long bed of reeds in the horizontal reed flow system. The reed bed is about 100 meters long. The disadvantage of horizontal reed beds is that they take a long time to produce clean water and take up a lot of lands.
   
   
6. Reeds are grown inside of a vertical flow (downflow) reed bed, which consists of a sealed trench filled with gravel and planted with reeds. In a downflow system, a bed 60 cm deep is where the reeds are planted. In vertical flow reed beds, the wastewater is applied at the top, then flows through a rhizome zone with sludge as a substrate, through a root zone with sand as a substrate, followed by a layer of gravel for drainage, and is collected in an under drainage system of large stones.
   
   
7. Millions of bacteria, algae, fungi, and other microorganisms that digest waste, including sewage, clean the effluent by slowly percolating it through the various layers of the bed's surface and into an outlet pipe that leads to a horizontal flow bed. There shouldn't be any bad odours because there is no standing water.
   
   
8. Systems with vertical flow reed beds are significantly more efficient than those with horizontal flow reed beds at lowering levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS), and ammonia as well as odours. They are capable of handling much stronger effluents that contain heavily polluted materials and have a longer lifetime value. They are typically considerably smaller than horizontal flow beds. A vertical reed bed system operates more effectively than a horizontal reed bed system, but it also requires more management and requires multiple beds and a distribution system because its reed beds are frequently operated for a few days before resting.
   
   
9. The natural method of purifying water has many benefits over the traditional method. Less money is needed for installation, operation, and maintenance when using nature. Additionally, it has a pleasing appearance and can enhance the natural environment. Reed beds are natural habitats that can be found in estuaries, swampy depressions, and floodplains. The biologically proven, environmentally friendly, and visually non-intrusive natural bed systems for treating wastewater also frequently outperform mechanical wastewater treatment systems. In most cases, reed bed systems are more affordable to install over the medium to long term than any other wastewater treatment. They naturally protect groundwater, dams, creeks, rivers, and estuaries and are environmentally sound.

Reed Bed Reading Questions

Questions 1-3

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage.

1. The hardest bacteria to eliminate is Escherichia coli.
2. There are several processes in the reed roots that aid in the breakdown of the pollutants.
3. A common technique for treating water in cities is the Reed bed system.

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Questions 4-6

Complete the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

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Questions 7-11

Use the information in the passage to match the advantages and disadvantages of the two systems: horizontal flow system and down-flow system (listed A—I) below.
Write the appropriate letters A-I in boxes 7-11 on your answer sheet.

The down-flow system has this advantage, which is 7..................... However, the down-flow system has some drawbacks, including 8…………... and 9…………….. The two advantages of the horizontal flow system are 10………….. and 11…………… It's less effective and efficient, though.

1. Compared to the other, it requires more beds.
2. It can handle an effluent that is significantly more polluted.
3. It needs a lot of guidance.
4. It requires less supervision and doesn't require constant attention.
5. The system's construction is slightly more difficult.
6. Because the pool needs time to rest and recover after a certain period of time, it cannot be utilized constantly.
7. Water usage is decreased.
8. The system is simple to construct and does not require an additional system.

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Questions 12-13

Choose two correct letters from the following A, B, C, D, or E.
Write your answers in boxes 12-13 on your answer sheet.
What are the two benefits of natural bed systems when compared to conventional systems?

1. They have good aesthetics and are environmentally friendly.
2. Neither fuel nor electricity is needed for operation.
3. They are intended to reduce expenses associated with installation and operation.
4. There are no mechanical systems involved.
5. They don't collapse.

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Reed Bed Reading answers with explanation

Here, you can easily access Reed Bed reading answers with explanations so that you may learn the methods and speed up your ability to track out the solutions.

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and gives the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in regular font gives an explanation of the answer in brief.)

1. NOT GIVEN

Answer Location: Not available
Explanation: There is no line in the passage that states, ‘The hardest bacteria to eliminate is Escherichia coli.’

2. TRUE

Answer Location: Paragraph B last line
Explanation: The last line of paragraph B states that the reason they are frequently so effective is that natural biological, physical, and chemical processes interact with one another to degrade or remove a wide variety of pollutants within the bed's root sector. From these lines, we can infer that the reed bed system works because the biological, physical, and chemical processes that occur naturally within the bed's toot sector interact with one another to break down the pollutants.

3. FALSE

Answer Location: Paragraph A last line
Explanation: Not applicable

4. SLUDGE

Answer Location: Paragraph F 4th line
Explanation: In vertical flow (Downflow) reed beds, wastewater is applied on top of the reed bed and flows downward through a rhizome zone with sludge as the substrate. This is demonstrated in paragraph F. The sludge is thus utilized as a substrate in the downflow reed bed system. So SLUDGE is the answer. 

5. SAND

Answer Location: Paragraph F 5th line
Explanation: The downflow reed bed system is explained in paragraph F. According to this theory, wastewater is applied on top of the reed bed and flows downward through a rhizome zone with sludge as a substrate before entering the root zone with sand as a substrate. We know that the sludge-substrated rhizome zone initiates the downflow, which is then followed by the sand-substrated root zone. So, Sand is the solution.

6. GRAVEL

Answer Location: Paragraph F 6th line
Explanation: The theory of the downflow of the reed bed system is given in paragraph F. According to this theory, wastewater that has been applied to the top of the reed bed flows downward through a rhizome zone with sludge as a substrate, then a root zone along with sand as a substrate which is followed by a layer of gravel for drainage, and is at last collected in an under a drainage system of large stones. According to what we can infer, after wastewater is applied to the top of the reed bed, it flows through a rhizome zone with sludge as a substrate, then a root zone with sand and a layer of gravel for drainage, before being collected in an under drainage system of large stones. Thus, GRAVEL is the solution. 

7. B

Answer Location: Paragraph H last line
Explanation: It is clear from the last line of paragraph H that reed bed systems may be able to effectively remove various pollutants. According to what we read, reed beds are effective at filtering out pollutants from water, which is great news for aquatic ecosystems and the animals and fish that call them home. Paragraph H also notes its potential to effectively filter out various pollutants.

8. A

Answer Location: Paragraph E last line
Explanation: As stated in the final sentence of section E, the liquid slowly flows through a long reed bed in a horizontal direction in a reed flow system. The reed bed is roughly 100 meters in length. The horizontal reed beds take a long time to produce clean water and take up a lot of space. These lines explain that because a single reed bed takes up so much room (its length is around 100 meters), purifying water takes a long time and requires multiple reed beds.

9. F

Answer Location: Paragraph H last line
Explanation: The final line of paragraph H shows how a vertical reed bed system operates more effectively than a horizontal reed bed system, but it also requires more management because its reed beds frequently operated for a few days before resting, requiring multiple beds and a distribution. These lines show that the horizontal reed bed system is more effective than the vertical reed bed system because the latter requires more management and is only used for a few days after a rest, i.e., the reed beds cannot be used continuously because the pool requires a period of rest and recovery.

10. D

Answer Location: Paragraph I 6th line
Explanation: The long-term reed bed systems are typically more economical to install than any other wastewater treatment, as shown in the sixth line of paragraph I. They are convenient and don't need much maintenance. These lines demonstrate the reed bed systems' great strength (robustness) and low control requirements (maintenance). As a result, because of their strength, reed bed systems require less management and maintenance over time.

11. H

Answer Location: Paragraph I 
Explanation: We can infer from the paragraph I that Reed Bed systems have a number of benefits, including low construction and operating costs and simple management. These lines show that the Reed Bed Systems can be successfully formed without an additional system (auxiliary system).

12. A 

Answer Location: Paragraph I 2nd line
Explanation: The natural bed systems are biologically proven, environmentally friendly, and unsightly ways to treat wastewater, according to the second line of paragraph I. These sentences demonstrate that Reed bed systems are visually appealing, environmentally friendly, and biologically proven.

13. C

Answer Location: Paragraph B 5th line
Explanation: The Reed Bed systems are typically more affordable to install than any other wastewater treatment system, as demonstrated in paragraph I. These lines indicate that installing reed bed systems is much less expensive than installing other treatment systems.

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Conclusion

The "Reed Bed reading answers," will make sure you have plenty of practice with the question types, as these are the ones that frequently show up on the IELTS reading test. In addition, links to practice materials have been provided for your convenience.