How do people make positive changes to system INTRODUCTION

The Chao Phraya river is also known as the Lifeblood of Thailand. Starting in the mountains of Chiang Mai and opening into the Gulf of Thailand, the Chao Phraya river system supports life throughout Thailand. Used for irrigation, fishing, transportation, amongst many other activities, the river provides for Thai people. Though it was once clean enough to drink from directly, the Chao Phraya is now polluted with garbage, fertilizers, and other materials. In order to improve the health of the Chao Phraya river system, we should encourage people who work with sewage systems or the government to add filters on the ends of their pipes going into the rivers and klongs.

INDICATORS of the PROBLEM

On the 25th of February, 7B went to a trip to the Chao Phraya River and observed lots of Indicators of the Chao Phraya Rivers health. We observed a very large amount of sewage in the water and how it was having a negative effect on the river system, as seen below: Quality indicators of my problem
Current Level

Predicted positive trend if innovation is implemented

Very Little

Dead Animals

Lots of Dead Animals. Increased Over Time Lots Of Sick People. Increased Over Time

Sick people living near klong

Fewer, Decreased

Klong Smell

Smell Very Much. Increased Over Time

A little less

Plants In Water

Many

Not too many

Fish Die

Some

Fewer

Systems

EFFECTS OF SEWAGE As it can be seen from the system map, the presence of sewage in the water causes many changes to the river system. Notably, Sewage has Germs and Bacteria in it and when the fish breath they take in all these Bacteria and Germs making them die. This decreases their population which can have a bad effect on the fishing and tourism industry. Fishermen will find it harder to catch healthy fish and tourists will see dead fish floating on the water making their experience unpleasant and making them not want to come back to Thailand.

PERSPECTIVES ON STYROFOAM CONTAINERS Different stakeholders have different opinions on the use of styrofoam containers.

Fishermen

Fishermen and fisherwomen dont really like the sewage because it kills the fish and then they dont have anything to catch. They also dont like it because it makes plants grow on the water making it harder to put a line or net through.

People Living Near River/Klong

The people living near the river/klong dont like or dont know about the sewage. They dont know because they dont have any education or they dont like it because it make them sick when they go swimming in it. They also dont care because they might not know how to get rid of it and how it might affect them. The fish really dont like the sewage because it make the water dirty and because it makes plants grow more on the water. They dont like it because then they cant see from all the dirt and might get stuck somewhere or they might not be able to breath because there wouldn't be enough Oxygen in the water for them to use. They like that they dont have to do anything with the sewage. They dont care if the people living around the river/klong get sick or about anything that i might do. All they care about is that they dont have to do anything with the sewage.

Fish

Sewage Companies (Look After Sewage)

WHY THIS IS THE IDEAL POINT TO MAKE A CHANGE As can be seen in the system map, there are many different things that contribute to the presence of Sewage in the water. Some of the most significant reasons are: Bad Sewage System Lazy People Not wanting to make a proper Sewage system There are no strict laws requiring sewage systems not to dump the Sewage into the Water Having a bad Sewage system is cheap The key to changing the system is at the point of Bad Sewage Systems. This is an ideal point to make a difference because it will Prevent the sewage entering the River. It is also an ideal point because it can clean the sewage out before letting anything enter the river.

INNOVATION
The proposed innovation is to Add filters into the Sewage system to make it clean the Sewage before letting it into the river instead of just letting it into the river. This innovation will be effective for the following reasons: NATURE

When you dump Sewage into the water you release chemicals like nitrates, phosphates, and organic matter which are found in Human waste serve as food for algae and bacteria which overpopulate and consume a lot of dissolved Oxygen making it difficult for other organisms to stay alive. Also the chemicals can also make microorganisms reproduce quickly and could make diseases spread to Humans and Animals. If you add filters into the Sewage system cleaning they chemicals, microorganisms and other indicators out then you could avoid a lot of diseases and could have less problems with plants on the water. You would then have lots of different organisms in the river and could have lots of Fish for Fishermen. Also adding filter into the sewage system would make people living near the rivers and klongs have less disease making more people able to look after the sewage system. ECONOMY Creating a very Good Sewage system is very expensive. I found out that installing a sewage system takes about 40 - 50 years and costs around $ 10,000 in one place and then the maintenance costs around $ 500. As it costs so much people dont want to make a good system. They create a bad system that costs very little but, doesnt work very well. Then actually fixing the bad system costs a little less than a good one and so, people dont fix it. If we add filter into the good systems but, make them cheaper then people will want to make good systems because they are cheaper. Then you make the fixing costs higher and then people will have to pay a high price for fixing it and you will get more money than the system is worth. Also if you add filters as a very necessary part of a system and make them expensive people will need to buy them making bad systems expensive. SOCIETY Filter can be used on most liquids and can remove almost anything from the liquid it is cleaning. As a result, it would be suitable for all the things coming out of the sewage pipes in the river. They also can be used on other things and as they will be used more people might see more of them and use them too. WELL-BEING Sewage in the river can be very harmful to Humans and animals alike. Sewage carries around bacteria which can cause diseases like Gastroenteritis, Hepatitis and Infection. Infection could kill you if it is not treated and as most people living near the river or klong are poor they dont have enough money to heal the infection. Also sewage makes the water look and smell disgusting.

Adding filters would address all of these issues of well-being. It would filter out all of the bacteria, microorganisms, germs, dirt and other organisms/things like that. Also it would take out most of the disgusting things in the water making it clean. It would still smell a little and look a little gross but, most of the grossness would be removed.

CONCLUSION
Sewage causes fish to die (less fish), fewer tourists and that it causes diseases. This is because of the pipes dumping all the sewage into the river and not caring about it. Sewage affect fishermen and fish in a bad way because with all the sewage in the water fish die because of not enough dissolved oxygen, not enough food or just because of the chemicals leaving less fish behind and making fishermen have fewer healthy fish to catch. If we can add filter on the ends of the sewage pipes then it would help in many ways. Adding filters is a good idea since it doesnt cause the problems that styrofoam does. Also, it doesnt affect your health, its quite cheap, it produces more jobs and is simple.

Works cited

Hariri, Zeina, Rola Khlifa, Mohammad Atalla, and All Of Grade 7B. "Effects of Dumping Sewage Water." Effects of Dumping Sewage Water. Planetary Notions 2002, 2002. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://gobiidae.com/PN/dumpingsewage.html>. "The Costs and Financing of Septic Systems." Onsite Sewage Treatment Program. University of Minnestona, 8 Oct. 2010. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://septic.umn.edu/factsheets/costandfinancing/index.htm>. "Ambient: Background - Effects of Sewage-Contaminated Water on Human Health."Ambient: Background. Ambient, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. <http://yyy.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/ambient/student/water/SwaterInfo.html>. "Gastroenteritis (Stomach Flu): Symptoms, Causes, Treatments." WebMD. WebMD, 03 Jan. 0000. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/gastroenteritis>. "Hepatitis A, B, and C Center: Symptoms, Causes, Tests, Transmission, and Treatments."WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/default.htm?names-dropdown=>.