1.
Does this taste right to you? As a Ministry of Environment environmental technician, you are
sent to take water for testing. Two of the test sites experienced fish kills and a third, without a
fish kill, was used as a comparison site. In an attempt to explain why the fish died at these sites,
the water was analyzed for the following chemicals: Site pH NO3 1- PO4 3- Dissolved 02
Suspended solids 8.0 0.2 ppm 0.2 ppm8.0 ppm 4.3 0.2 ppm 0.2 ppm7.0 ppm 6.0 5.0 ppm 6.0
ppm 3.0 ppm Hi Medium Access the long description of the table. Location of sample sites: river
metal atripping plant large pig farm kill Fish k Your job is to provide an analysis of the test
results to come up with a hypothesis for the experienced fish kills. Site A did not experience any
fish kills and is used as a reference site
Solution
1. In the site B , the environment is highly acidic as compared to the suitable mild alkaline
condition (Site A , pH: 8 ) due to wastages coming from the metal stripping plant. Moreover, the
high amount of suspended solids make this environment hazardous for aquatic fauna.
2. In the site C, the most predominant problem is the scarcity of dissolved Oxygen in water due
to the presence of high amount of organic wastes coming from the pig farm. Moreover, the
presence of excess Nitrate and Phosphate in the environment makes the environment unsafe for
fishes.