Fertilizer - The Destroyer

Here’s another problem: What happens to the fertilizer that people put on their gardens and farmers put on their crops? Does it just soak into the ground? Well, sometimes it does but other times a heavy rain will come and too much of the fertilizer gets washed away. Some fertilizer is okay for the water but when there gets to be too much, then you have problems. If there’s a leak in a sewer pipe and it spills into the creeks and streams, you’ve got problems. If there’s too much algae, you’ve got problems. Fish CAN”T breathe. When fish can’t breath they die. That’s what a fish kill is. Unfortunately, North Carolina has had some fish kills. In 1997, hundreds of fish died in Ellerbee Creek in Durham. That creek flows into Falls Lake which is Raleigh’s source of drinking water.L In the Pamlico River in 1995, 85,000 fish called menhaden died because of a little microbe called pfiesteria.

Something you can do: Pick up trash along the rivers and creeks. Every little thing you do to make the earth cleaner will make a difference. What you do matters---so do the right thing!!!

What happens when a big rain comes and washes too many pollutants into the water?

a.) Nothing---the rain washes away all the chemicals that could hurt the fish
b.) The fish get happy because they love to breath in the chemicals
c.) Phospates build up and cause algae to grow which can kill the fish
d.) The pollutants help the water to produce more food for fish

If you answered “C”, then you are will on your way to being an advocate for the fish! Let’s hear it for clean water and healthy fish!!!

*Home

*Fecal Coliform (a fancy word for human and animal waste)

*Globs of fats and oils (comes from our favorite restaurants)

*Copper sediment (comes from the break pads of cars)