Introduction

Introduction

Using recycled water to irrigate crops, (irrigation is the process of applying controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals), is becoming very common in dry parts of the world. (Briggs, 2014). But will recycled water work as well as regular tap or bottled water? For my project, I wanted to find out which type of water would work best when growing plants, tap, recycled, or bottled water.

The plant used for my experiment was pinto beans. Pinto beans are a very popular bean, and are used in a variety of different dishes, for example soups, stews, tacos, and burritos. Since they are used in so many different dishes, you can find packs of the dry beans at grocery stores. Only when the beans are dry, will they sprout and germinate. To germinate means when a seed begins to grow or put shoots after a period of dormancy. Sometimes because the beans are from the store and most likely processed, they might be too old or irradiated to germinate. Irradiated means that particular bean might have been exposed to various levels of gamma radiation but aren’t radioactive. (Harrington, 2018).

Pinto beans usually take around 4-5 days to sprout. If you are going to grow them into a hard bean, it will take around 90-150 days. Pinto beans are a fairly easy bean to grow because they require very little care. They are sensitive to the cold and sprout best in a temperature of 68-70°F. This is because they are indigenous to subtropical climates like Peru. Usually, the beans need to be spaced out a large amount when compared to other types of beans. They can be harvested as a green snap bean or as a hard bean like the ones you find in stores. (Grant, 2020).

Now that you know what seeds I planted, you should know how they grow.

Healthy soil, clean air, and sunlight are all very important for strong plants. The soil provides an anchor for the plant's roots. The air provides carbon dioxide, and if the air is dirty or polluted it blocks their intake of it. Sunlight helps the plants get food through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is when the plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar, like glucose or carbohydrates. The plant does not use the oxygen itself so it releases it into the air for us to breathe. (National geographic Society, 2019).

For plants to grow, they also need both nutrients and water. The most important nutrients for plants are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen helps make the leaves green. Phosphorus helps make the roots stronger and if the plant has flowers, makes them bigger. Potassium helps the plant fight off any diseases. The plants use the water to carry moisture and nutrients back and forth between the roots. The plant gets the water and nutrients from the soil and receives it through the roots. (n.a. 2021). This is the reason why it’s good to water plants when the soil they sit in gets dry. This leads me to my next topic, recycling water.

Recycling water reduces the amount of water that drains into our sewer systems, which eventually leads into natural bodies of water. It prevents waste water and pollution from going into large bodies of water like oceans and seas. When you recycle water from your own area or home, it means you don't have to take water from other areas. Basically, by reusing water from your own household, you get the water from your own “area”, and not from another river or “area” that needs it. Many of these other areas where there is a lot of water have very delicate ecosystems and suffer when their water is taken away. When you recycle water, it makes it easier for these ecosystems to keep their supplies. (Michelle, 2019).

There are many different ways you can help and recycle your water in your own household. Some of the easiest ways would include, using leftover water that drains out from the bottom of flower pots after you water them, use water left over from cleaning your car and drain it into your lawn or bushes in your yard, or reuse water that has been poured into cups and not drunken or use leftover water from your water bottle. Another way is using water you used to wash vegetables or fruits with or use the water leftover from boiling pasta. One of the best places to get used water is from your roof. Some houses have gutters that drain water from the roof into barrels to be used to water plants when the weather gets too dry. (Rinkesh, n.d.).

The only downside to using recycled waste water is that although the water goes through a lot of treatment but sometimes things like caffeine and drugs, which are sometimes flushed down toilets, are not filtered out. One study showed that only a small amount of pharmaceutical and personal care products were found present in wastewater. (Briggs,2014).

The purpose of this project was to find out if recycled water worked as well as regular tap water and bottled water when growing plants. My hypothesis was that the tap water would work best because it was rain water.