The protection of rivers and ponds is perhaps the first priority that people have today. To preserve the rivers, it is necessary to minimize the pollution coming from the soil, from other water bodies that flow into the river and the pollution coming from the air.
You will need
- Map of your area with the designation of rivers and various industrial and agricultural facilities.
- Sterile sample collection dishes.
- Handbook of Maximum Allowable Concentrations of Substances (MPC).
- Contacts of state and independent environmental laboratories.
Instruction manual
1
If you are determined and really want to move from words to deeds, becoming the ecologist of rivers and reservoirs, you should start by carefully studying the map of your area. See which industrial facilities - factories and factories are located along the river, which agricultural facilities - farms, collective farms are nearby. To make sure your map is correct, you may have to take a short walk and explore which industrial and agricultural facilities drain their effluents into the river. Make your own alternative map of drains, with the designation of enterprises engaged in such unseemly business.
2
Take sterile jars for collecting samples and fill them with river water, moving downstream. Be sure to mark on the bank where the sample was taken. Check the card. Do not forget to indicate the date and time of sampling. Water samples should also be taken in places where other rivers or streams flow into your river.
3
Take your samples to the state environmental laboratory (as a rule, they are located at the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station). If the results you find seem doubtful, and the values of the concentrations of harmful substances are clearly underestimated, contact an independent environmental laboratory. You can check all the data received from the laboratory using the manual MPC - Maximum Allowable Concentrations of harmful substances. If the concentrations obtained in the laboratory exceed the MPC value, then this is an occasion to contact the city or district inspection of natural resources and environmental protection.
note
Very often, all unauthorized emissions of harmful substances are carried out by industrial facilities at night or at dawn. You can follow this on your own or in the company of friends. You will see how the color and smell of wastewater has changed. Be sure to write down the time and date when this happened.
Useful advice
Be sure to find out where the treatment plants are located, after which the water from the river flows into your city. Take a water sample directly near the station, noting the time and date of sampling.
