The Tolerance Level of Grey Water in Tomato Plants

1353 Words3 Pages

Introduction

Aim

This experiment is to investigate the tolerance level of grey water in tomato plants and what effect the gray water will have on the environment?

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that plants are able to tolerate small amount of detergent, but after the detergent solution reach it’s threshold level, it can affect the plant’s growth, ultimately resulting in the plants death.

Background

Water is essential to the all life on earth, including plants. But with the growth of population, humans are facing more and more water problems: including water pollution and water shortage. It has become the biggest problem in the world to date. Most of the water pollution is caused by the heavy industries,pollution, and grey water discharged by households on a daily basis.

Byrne, J, 2005, Fact Sheet: Grey Water, Accessed on 12th March

URL

Detergent are defined as "a cleansing substance that acts similarly to soap but is made from chemical compounds rather than fats and lye" (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Modern detergents contain a chemical called a surfactant which can cause water and soil pollution and is quite harmful to plants. An average Australian house can produce about 400 litres of grey water a day. This water may not be used again. But with rising costs and people’s awareness of saving water, more and more people start to use their water resources more wisely. The Australian Government encourages citizens to use grey water for the garden, for example waste water from the bathroom, hand basin, shower, and laundry can be used to water the household plants. However, the statistic ( Table 1 and Table 2) shows that the de...

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...t. It was hypothesized that plants were able to tolerate small amount of detergent, but after the detergent solution reached a threshold level, it would affect the plant’s growth and eventually kill the plants. However, detergent is used in our every day life. People are starting to notice how harmful the detergent solutions could be in the environments surrounding us.

Works Cited

Diana Christova-Boal, Robert E. Eden, and Scott McFarlanen, 2010, an investigating of greywater reuse for urban residential properties , Accessed on 14th March.

URL< http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html >

R. Waskom and J. Kallenberger, 2010, Graywater Reuse, Accessed on 14th March,

URL< http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html >

Byrne, J, 2005, Fact Sheet: Grey Water, Accessed on 12th March

URL

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