Water Waste Water and Water Pollution Sewage Natural Sewage
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| Kids&Science Water Waste Water and Water Pollution Sewage Natural Sewage |
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| See also: Industrial Sewage, Sewage Treatment Plants, Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow - Water Pollution | |
Natural SewageRocks and soils weather and release their minerals, as water dissolves everything that is in any way possible to dissolve. It even dissolves almost insoluble minerals like granite and glass. Take shards of cheap glass and grind them to a fine powder. Place it in a heat-resistant beaker (don’t use a test tube) and add about 30 ml of distilled water. Boil the glass powder for 10 minutes.
Once the mixture has cooled down, add some red cabbage juice. The solution turns blue. When glass (or lime stone) dissolves, the water becomes slightly alkaline.
Because of the minerals, the soil becomes fertile, as plants need certain minerals for their growth, which they primarily take from the soil. Too much dissolved minerals may cause the exact opposite. An example is the Dead Sea:
Except for a few algae and bacteria near the river mouth, its waters are without any life, since it is ten times saltier than seawater. As the Dead Sea has no drain, it is a dead end for salt and other minerals that are washed down by rivers. In general, the same is true of the minerals in water, which are in fact the food of the plants, as is true for the food for humans. In moderate amounts they promote growth, but if too much is taken in, they cause harm. |
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Last Update: 2004-Feb-29 |
