King River, Tasmania
Outline the physical features of the King River. The river in Western Tasmania is made by two rivers, Eldon and South Eldon, coming together. It flows down for 52km to Lake Burbury where it goes through a tunnel to a power station. Along the sides of the river you can find huon pines - a type of plant native to Tasmania. The top part of the river lies in a glaciated valley and is surrounded by mountains.
Asses the impact that humans have had on this water source. The King River is one of the most polluted water sources in Australia. The Queen River runs into it carrying mining waste, sulphides and heavy metals, contaminating the water. Therefore, the water is not safe to drink and can be harmful if you do. 100 years of dumping mine tailings from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company caused more
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Due to the river being connected to many other rivers and lakes, the contaminated water travels downstream and contaminates the water in the other water sources. This is ongoing and makes it harder for the treatment of the water.
Propose one possible rehabilitation technique. A rehabilitation technique that could be put in place at this water source would be to enforce harsher penalties for polluting the water and educating the public on the consequences of the pollution. This would discourage people from polluting and would inform them on what happens if they do pollute the water.
Evaluate one form of technology currently being used to purify and treat water and justify why it would be useful for the King River. An existing way of treating water with mine sediments in it is to first reduce the amount of pollutants entering the water. The water would then have to be treated with chemicals to get rid of bacteria. I think this technique would help to improve and purify the quality of the water but there may still be metals in the water. Therefore to get rid of these, coagulants and flocculants would need be used to separate them from the