Reducing the Amount of Nitrates In The Chao Phraya to resolve the amount of Dead plants

A Proposal For a Better Chao Phrayaby Kaea Tibble

INTRODUCTION

The source of the Chao Phraya river is in the high mountains of Chiang Mai .The water flows through Thailand, weaving its way through Bangkok, and ending in the gulf of Thailand. The Chao Phraya River is used in so many ways by the people of Thailand like washing, cooling down, bathing, and even religious ceremonies. However the state it is in now could have an Impact on how the villagers around the river would like to use it in the future.

My proposal is to help conserve and revive the river through community education with people in the Homestay. My initiative is to share information with this community and show them how excessive use of fertilisers causes the buildup of harmful nitrates in the river that kills important plants in the river that help to clean it and keep it healthy.

The Chao Phraya river was a beautiful river a long time ago.

However due to pollution such as styrofoam, garbage, fertilizers it has now turned into something quite different and dirty.

Part of the problem is the need to reduce the large amount of nitrates contained in fertilizers ending up in the river,. This is having a huge negative impact on the plants and fish in the river. This paper addresses this problem

INDICATORS of the PROBLEMIn February I and some other students of NIST went on a trip to gain further knowledge of the river, these are some indicators of the problem.

Quality indicators of my problem Current level Predicted positive trend if innovation is implemented

Big plants caused by the presence of Nitrates.

lots some

Dead fish caused by plants dying, fish require plants to feed on.

some not alot

Fertilizers used on gardens, to make plants grow

alot very few

Rains, rain causes nitrates run off into the river

lots few

SYSTEMS MAP DEAD PLANTS

EFFECTS Nitrates have on PlantsAs it appears on the systems map the indicator that affects the whole system would have to be the fact that people use Nitrates on their garden. The problem may not just be people using them

on their garden but also companies in a private sector organization. I suspect there are large amounts of of commercial organisations involved in farming using cheap fertilizers. Then due to the rain it gets washed out into the river. This whole system is called eutrophication. Let me explain it further: Eutrophication is where nitrates get into the river/sea and they make some plants grow really big which sounds good. However it negatively impacts the biodiversity. Because when some plants grow big it gets them growing so largely that they are at a point where they block the sun for the smaller plants, the smaller plants need sunlight and due to the larger plants blocking the sunlight they cannot receive any sunlight. Therefore those smaller plants die. Unfortunately that could be an environmentally polluted thing which sounds weird. Fish feed on those smaller plants which are used for oxygen and nutrition but since they are no longer alive, that also causes the fish to die. Bacterias job is to then jump and rot the fish/plants. A problem is bacteria take up oxygen too. However the plants/fish still lie around the river. Unfortunately for Fishermen there could be fewer healthy fish to catch and to sell.

PERSPECTIVES ON Nitrates/FertilizersDifferent stakeholders have different opinions on the use of Nitrates/Fertilizers.

Gardeners Happy because there plants that are on land are not affected so why bother caring. There plants are growing because Nitrates contain Protein and Make plants grow quickly.

Plants The plants that are growing like the Nitrates because they make them grow due to the protein contained in the Nitrates. However the smaller plants dislike The nitrates as they have no sunlight due to Nitrates causing growth and then the eutrophication system happens.

Fish Fish will dislike Nitrates as they cause plants to grow oversized, however the smaller plants which provide oxygen and food are dying therefore the fish could begin to die.

Fishermen Hate Nitrates because they are causing their fish to die. It would be hard to catch alive fish and healthy fish due to Nitrates affecting the system. Also when fishing due to the oversized plants it could be hard to fish because it could get in the way of the fishing line.

WHY THIS IS THE IDEAL POINT TO MAKE A CHANGEAs seen on the system map, there are many things contributing and affecting dead plants in the river. The main reasons are

● Lack of awareness to nitrates● Nitrates making plants grow bigger● Nitrates making other plants fish die● It rains and the nitrates that were in the garden run off into the river

The best way to change this issue is to avoid the fertilizers. Even if they do make your plants grow It should be a natural thing. Why would you avoid them well, Nature: Is affected in so many ways as it kills some of the aquatic populationEconomy: Fishermen, Seafood owners are losing money due to lack of healthy, alive fishWellbeing: Sure we would be happy that our gardens have big plants etc. however the river has now got plants growing to a similar height as the Great Wall of China!!!!! That would affect the people’s happiness who are living around the river as they would no longer be proud of their river due to the sight of the river.Society: Affected as they could receive a bad reputation towards how much they care about their river.

INNOVATION

My proposed innovation is to educate/show photos the people staying in the HomeStay about the effect Nitrates/Fertilizers have on Plants in the Chao Phraya River.

This innovation will be effective for the following reasons:

NATURENitrates are a key thing for growing plants as they provide Protein and Chemicals which provide faster growing. They are an easy way to grow plants, however when people use them in their garden it rains then runs off into the river. Nitrates also cause the aquatic nature in the sea to die due to causing Eutrophication.

However if we go from forcing our plants through chemicals to Letting our plants grow naturally we will have a more sustainable environment in and out of the river.This way the population of living healthy Plants and Fish will increase by a milestone.By giving evidence to the people around the river and showing them some parts where the river has this problem most I’m sure they will make a change.

ECONOMY

Fertilizers will cause plants and fish to die because of the nitrates which affect the aquatic plants. This way fishermen can not sell their fish and make money due to lack of healthy fish and fish that are alive. Hotel owners might not get very many guests due to lack of river hygiene.

Luckily educating people around the river will gain knowledge on how to provide and help the river to earn money. If my innovation goes as planned then there will be several knowledgeable people about how using fertilizers are one of the main things affecting the river. It is also a free

program which is an easy and cheap innovation as it is free.The challenge here is that while fishermen will be happy and the community, the farmers and commercial operations may not be happy about any extra costs they may need to take on if they reduce their use of cheap fertiliser. An idea you may also want to think about is developing an agreement between farmers and communities and fisherman about how fertiliser use might be reduced over a longer period of time, including how governments might use taxes to help clean up the river.

SOCIETYThis is an appropriate innovation for the community of the Chao Phraya River because it impacts them as a community equally this innovation impacts them the most because they now know that fertilizers aren’t the most appropriate way to make their plants grow. Everybody will be impacted equally because now eutrophication will not happen due to their shortage use of Nitrates in Fertilizers as they have received evidence, they will also be impacted equally due to them all having similar knowledge on Fertilizers impacts and effects on the river.

WELL-BEINGThere are several environmental effects towards nitrates unfortunately they are mostly negative.When it rains the nitrates run-off into the River and then cause Plants to overgrow therefore they block sunlight and then smaller plants receive no sunlight, which they need. Therefore the plants die and since the fish need plants they die too. The river then turns into a more non living environment and is polluted with a bunch of dead plants, fish. When fishermen fish they are disappointed due to shortage of business because there are no healthy fish to sell and catch.

Avoiding nitrates in fertilizers will promote happiness because there is a river with no dead fish or plants this way the river looks cleaner so they are happy. My innovation will adapt the people staying at home stays knowledge on nitrates this way they would be happy because now they know some things that are affecting their river and causing the river to be in the state it is in now.

CONCLUSION

The quantity of dead plants in the river is too much, the main problem is nitrates contained in fertilizers. This can be witnessed in river by oversized plants, plants on top of the river, and very few fish popping up in the water. Also dead plants and fish seen floating around the river which are dead, this is due to eutrophication and nitrates. But the nitrates/fertilizers cause eutrophication. The main indicator of dead plants that should be changed is the fact that people use fertilizers on their gardens and the nitrates run-off into the river.

Eutrophication is a process which causes some plants to grow oversize therefore the smaller

plants underneath receive no sun and they then die. This is bad because those plants provide nutrition and oxygen for the Fish in the river. Eutrophication is a negative process towards Nature as it now. There are very many stakeholders are affected due to nitrates dead Plants:The stakeholders could be impacted positively and negatively however since Nitrates is such a strong chemical in terms of it’s capability to impact us as Human Beings and Nature/Animals.Most of the impacts towards nitrates and dead plants are negative. The usage of Nitrates on gardens would be a key point to change because of it’s Negative impacts towards Society as the river is now filled with dead plants because of their shortage of knowledge on Nitrates and how they work etc., people’s Well Being could possibly be in jeopardy due the fact that they are no longer able to use a chemical such as Nitrates which would cause the plants to grow faster. It would be a positive change for Economy because they now can start having a more reliable business while selling their fish.I believe my innovation is a very easy process, I also believe if people begin using my innovation and start educating people around the river there will be a more environmentally appropriate area. My solution is to educate the people and show photos to the people staying at home stay about how Nitrates are causing several dead plants in the Chao Phraya river, It is a possible action as I already know the lady who owns the hotel. This will be a positive impact towards the whole community. Reflecting on the Sustainability Compass will increase the likability of my Innovation. It impacts Nature positively as when educating people the probability of them taking away the evidence and information and doing it is very high. This way people will now avoid the Fertilizers on their garden and now there will be no eutrophication. The river would now have NO dead plants in the river due to the nitrates issue. There will now be healthy fish and fish that are alive. Also there are now several plants creating oxygen and nutrition for the fish.My innovation impacts Economy positively too, I would have to promote a few jobs including a Translator and a Graphic Artist. Also promoting seafood businesses which is a high economic market currently according to (Marine Stewardship Council). It will be promoting seafood companies and fisherman simply by the population increase of fish. Impacting Society because everybody will be affected equally, hopefully nobody will be using fertilizes on their gardens because they now know how much it affects the river. All people will be happy because it’s free and helping them in a very easy way. Impacting Wellbeing now people will having non-chemical plants they now can spend quality time by gardening together. Now people are happy as they are knowledgeable and capable as they now know where they need to put an end to this use of Fertilizers in order to create a more healthy river.Finishing of with why plants are such a priority. Plants are a high value in the food chain according to my Systems Map, if the plants are dead so are the fish. Plants provide oxygen and nutrition for a variety of different things living in the river such as fish. Educating people and giving them knowledge allows people to use that knowledge they have been given, also people normally prioritise education. That’s why you should use my innovation

Works cited "Eutrophication." Personal interview. 4 Mar. 2014. Jane Altemen

Stewardship, Marine. "The Seafood Economy." — MSC . N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. <http://www.msc.org/healthy-oceans/the-oceans-today/the-seafood-economy>.

"The Myth of Expensive Seafood | Queensland Catch." The Myth of Expensive Seafood | Queensland Catch . N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. <http://queenslandcatch.com.au/something-fishy/the-myth-of-expensive-seafood/>.

Hotels, Bangkok. "Riverside Hotels." Bangkok.com . N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. http://www.bangkok.com/hotels/riverside.htm

Catn. "Eutrophication « Water Pollution Guide." Eutrophication « Water Pollution Guide . N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/eutrophication.html

"Google Doc Exemplr." Personal interview. 26 Mar. 2014.Teresa Tung

"Barge Trip Booklet." Interview. Barge Trip Booklet Feb. 2014: n. pag. Print.