CONCLUSION

From the results in the table, we concluded that our hypothesis was correct !! Kallang River is more polluted than Jurong Lake.So in order to prevent water pollution,these are a few ways for you to help:


1) Take great care not to overuse pesticides and fertilisers as this will help to prevent runoffs of the material into nearby water sources.

2) Be careful about what you throw down your sink / toilet. Don’t throw paints, oils or other forms of liquid litter down the drain, as they will be carried down to these water sources and thus polluting the water with toxics that wild life and us use for our daily needs.

3) Don’t throw litter into rivers, lakes or oceans instead, help to clean up any litter you see on/in beaches, rivers and lakes, also make sure it is safe to collect the litter and put it in a nearby dustbin.

Did you know? About 1 billion people in this world do not have access to clean drinking water? By preventing water pollution, you can save the lives of these people !!

DISCUSSION

Based on our results, we have inferred that Kallang River is more polluted than Jurong Lake, as Kallang River's pH level is 9.40, so it is highly alkaline which causes death of most life forms, while Jurong Lake's pH level is 7.55 which is neutral, which is suitable for the growth and health for most aquatic organisms. 

This could have been caused by the releasing of soaps/ detergents of domestic residence. The high alkalinity of the water in Kallang River can be the cause of the deaths of most life forms.



The water temperature of Kallang River is 32.3°C which means the water is polluted while the water temperature of Jurong Lake is 30.1°C which means that the water quality is good. Though it may look like it is polluted, it might be because the water sample taken in Kallang River is from a sun-exposed area while the water taken from Jurong is in a shaded area.
  

The dissolved oxygen of Kallang River is 10.20mg/L and the dissolved oxygen of Jurong Lake is 9.73mg/L which means that the water quality of both rivers is good.Hence, this is why we are able to find aquatic lifeforms in both areas.

The turbidity of Kallang River is 29.6 NTU while the turbidity of Jurong Lake is 30.3 NTU which means that both waters are cloudy which is most likely be caused by soil erosion, through dragging of water equipment from land to water hence causing soil particles from the earth to be dragged into the water.


The salinity of Kallang River is 0.20 µS/cm while the salinity of Jurong Lake is 0.00 µS/cm which means that they are both fresh water and there will be fresh water lifeforms in it, such as fishes and birds.

As for the bacteria culture result of both rivers, there are less bacteria colonies on the controlled side of the agar plates but there are more bacteria colonies in Kallang River than in Jurong Lake. This shows that Kallang River is more polluted than Jurong Lake.

We think that Kallang River is polluted as it is caused most likely by human activities, littering and soil erosion.


This are some pictures of what we seen at Kallang river bank:

With all this litter about, animals might mistake them for food and hence consuming them which will cause them to fall sick and die. This will cause animals to be endangered and soon be extinct. Hence, in order to stop animals becoming extinct, STOP THE LITTERING!!

Plant more grass along the river to STOP SOIL 
EROSION TOO !!!

GEOGRAPHY

CAUSE AND EFFECT:

  1. OIL SPILL

  2. LITTERING

CONSERVING KALLANG RIVER AND JURONG LAKE:

* PREVENT SOIL EROSION

To prevent soil erosion, plant grass, tress seedlings, and ferns which can help hold the soil and also plants which can thrive along the body of water. In areas where soil erosion is frequent, it is best to plant trees and plants that have roots that grow deep in the soil so that the roots will help to anchor the soil to the ground during soil erosion.

* REGULAR RIVER CLEAN UP

If the river is too long and there is no control over other communites which are encompassed by the river, coordinate with the local units in those areas. Conduct monthly clean up so that everyone has appreciation of proper caring of the river and to also reduce the deaths of animals who mistaken the litter for food, and consume them which causes the animals to choke to death and cause animals to become endangered and soon extinct. 

* MAINTAIN CLEAN WATER

Do not dispose trash, debris, or any junk material into the rivers and lakes. These materials will cause pollution to the bodies of water. A clean water should be cleared and can be drunk, free from litters, no stinking and foul smell, fish and other aquatic life can survive, and suitable for swimming and other recreation activities.

REFLECTION ON FIELD TRIP

We went Kallang River and Jurong Lake to compare which river is more polluted and we realized that Kallang River is more polluted than Jurong Lake.

Kallang River was exceptionally polluted according to the measurements we have taken. The source of pollution caused by human activities as there are lots of activities going on on the river which would cause human pollution such as littering and soil erosion, which is caused through dragging of water equipment into the river. Also, there are many rivers such as the Singapore River connected to Kallang River, hence causing rubbish and waste to flow into Kallang River.


Consequently,there are people living in HDB flats and condominiums near the river, they may have disposed household chemicals which will increase the pH of the water,causing it to be alkaline and leading the deaths of many life forms.

Thus, through this experiment, we had concluded that Kallang River is more polluted than Jurong Lake.

RESULTS

AGAR PLATE (KALLANG RIVER):

AGAR PLATE (JURONG LAKE):

TABLE USED FOR THE ON-SITE TESTS:

MEMBERS

LEADER: HUI SHI (21)

CAMERA MAN: ALOYSIUS LOH (22)

LOGISTICS OFFICER: MILTON SIA (23)

NOTE TAKER: NG WEI PENG(25)

SAFETY OFFICER: NG JUN HENG(24)

INFOMATION

KALLANG RIVER:

The Kallang River flows for 10 kilometres from Lower Peirce Reservoir to the coastal area at Nicoll Highway,hence making it the longest river in Singapore. The river mouth was traditionally at Kallang Basin, but now the river only flows into open sea through the Marina Channel.

JURONG LAKE:

Jurong lake is a 70ha freshwater lake and reservoir located in the western region of Singapore formed with the damming of Sungei Jurong further downstream. The lake serves as a reservoir contributing to the water supply of the country.

EVALUATION

Lastly, we evaluate our experiment to prevent reoccurrence of errors and also use the lessons as a form of learning to the experiment.

The first potential error includes opening the petri dishes lid fully while swipping water sample onto agar plates.This will cause contamination of bacteria form the outside environment onto the control.Therefore,when our control is not supposed to have any bacteria growth there is, thus our bacteria culture will be inaccurate.

The second error will be the use of the cotton bud for swabbing onto the control side of the petri dish. Hence,this may have brought in bacteria from the cotton bud into the control side, which will cause an inaccurate result.

The improvement that we had made in this experiment is opening the lid of the petri dish slowly and not to immediately open the lid fully that would had allowed bacteria contamination onto the control. Hence, resulting of the growth of bacteria being accurate. 

HYPOTHESIS

BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF RIVERS THAT WE HAD INVESTIGATED, OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THIS:

 

Kallang River is more polluted than Jurong Lake.

 

As the water temperature of Kallang River is higher than Jurong Lake's; the pH value of Kallang River is 9.4 which means the water is highly alkaline and polluted, which will cause death for most life forms while the pH value of Jurong Lake is 7.53 which means the water is slightly alkaline and is suitable for optimum growth and health for most aquatic organisms.

DETERMINING VARIABLES

To make our experiment a fair test, we needed variables. There are several variables that will affect the water quality of the river.To find out the causes of pollution and effect on the river life and check the pollution level in Kallang River and Jurong Lake.We need different results of the water quality through various physical factors: water temperature, pH level, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, salinity. These factors are the dependent variables which means they are the variables that are measured.

The independent variable is which river(Kallang River/Jurong Lake) we would be investigating. 

But, there are other variables that will affect the outcome of the experiment. These are the control variables that are to be kept constant. Some control variables are the amount of water that was taken out of each river, duration of measurements.

METHODOLOGY

Bacteria Culture:

1.Open the lid of the petri dish.Do not open it fully.

2.Put cotton bud into water sample.

3.Swap on the side labelled Kallang/Jurong.

4.Close petri dish lid and seal with parrafin strip.

5.Flip petri dish around to prevent inaccuracy of results.

6.Leave the bacteria to grow for about one to two days.

7.Observe results after one to two days.

Water temperature:

1.Use the deionized water to deionize the temperature sensor.

2.Put the temperature sensor into the water and find out the temperature

pH sensor:

1.Uncap the pH sensor from the bottle of deionized water.

2.Deionize the pH sensor with deionized water.

3.Place the pH sensor into the water to test the pH level of water.


[OTHER SENSORS USED]

Air Temperature:

1. Use the distilled water to deionize the temperature sensor.
2. Hold the temperature sensor upwards in the air and take the air temperature reading 3 times and get an average.

Turbidity:

1. Pour the river water into the glass bottle and cap it.
2. Wipe the external surface of the bottle with a tissue and ensure the glass is clean free from fingerprints.
3. Place the glass bottle into the turbidity sensor slot with the glass bottle arrow aligned with the sensor arrow and close the sensor cover.
4. Record down the reading 3 times and get an average.
5.Remove and wash the bottle after use.

Dissolved Oxygen:
1. Rinse the sensor with distilled water and dry it with tissue.
2. Immerse the sensor into the river water.
3. Record the reading 3 times to get an average.

Salinity:
1. Rinse the sensor with distilled water and dry it with tissue.
2. Immerse the sensor into the river water.
3. Record the reading 3 times to get an average