INVESTIGATORY PROJECT: WRITTEN REPORT

I. PROBLEM

Nowadays, most of the people do not like the idea of having plants to take care

of because it is time consuming, from watering to making sure the plants get enough

nutrients; it totally needs a lot of effort. But still, there are some people who does this as a

hobby. Based on our observations, Filipinos are fond of taking care of plants and are very

resourceful when it comes to finding alternatives to make their task easier. They use rice

washings or the leftover water from cleaning the rice and even their laundry water as a

watering solution to lessen the waste of water. In this investigatory project, we want to find

out the different effects of Rice Washings and Laundry Water to Welcome Plants

(Zamioculas), a common plant usually seen in most household, and then compare it to Tap

Water.

II. TITLE

The Effect of Rice Washings and Laundry Water in the Growth of Welcome Plants (Zamioculas)

III. ABSTRACT

This Investigatory Project is performed to identify which of the watering solutions

(rice washings, laundry water, and tap water) would be the most beneficial to the growth of

welcome plants or Zamioculas. To conduct the experiment, prepare two (2) welcome plants

(Zamioculas) and place them in the same area in which they could receive equal sunlight. We

then labeled the plants (Rice Washings-Plant A, Laundry Water-Plant B and watered them each

day with its corresponding type of water for 4 weeks, making sure to record and take note of the

changes. As a result, we saw no drastic changes on both plants; however, the plant watered with
rice washing appeared to be healthier in comparison to the plant watered with laundry water. The

reason for this is that rice washings contain numerous nutrients which benefits the plant’s

growth, and the laundry water did not contain much nutrients or minerals which would make the

plant healthier but it was enough to get the plant to survive. Given a longer time to perform the

experiment, we would probably get more accurate results but for now, these are the results that

were evident.

IV. INTRODUCTION

Rice is one of the staple food here in Asia, especially in the Philippines as it is

consumed for almost every meal of the day. It is also the source of livelihood of many Filipinos

especially those who live in the rural provinces. With that said, rice is a very abundant and very

important food crop in the country. In order to consume the rice grains, it is a must to wash it

about three times before cooking it. The water used for washing rice, on a weekly scale, is

actually a huge amount of water that is commonly thrown away in the drainage and wasted.

Water, a basic necessity to almost every living organism here in Earth, is noticeably being used

and consumed irresponsibly. From everyday consumption and use in household chores, a lot of

water is wasted and thrown away when it could actually be conserved and reused in many ways.

Another chore that is done every day which possibly and unknowingly cause a waste of

tremendous amount of water, doing the laundry. According to researches, these household waters

or greywater, specifically laundry water, is not as useless as it seems. It actually contains some

minerals which would help improve the plant’s growth.

 For this investigatory project, the researchers will use the waters in ordinary

household chores, such as the water from rice washings and laundry water, and reuse them as a

watering solution for our plants. Not only would this investigatory project, if successful, be one

of the steps in saving Mother Nature, but it would help in developing more ways on how to

conserve widely in different aspects such as money and necessities in livelihood.

V. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This Investigatory Project was inspired by a research made by a group of Grade 9

Students (Andaya, Patricia Lowell N., Gica, Enzo Van A., Renomeron, Aviel Elvin H., 2018)

about the Effect of Rice Washings in the Growth of Gumamela Plants, based on their research

there were no drastic changes that occurred in the Gumamela plant. In addition, the following

articles and investigatory projects were researches made by their respectful writers and it is

similar to this investigatory project.

1. Antibacterial Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis Flower against

Staphylococcus epidermidis and staphylococcus Saprophyticus

In this experiment, the reseatchers tried to prove if the Ethanolic extract from a gumamela plant

would be potent to the Staphylococcus epidermidis and staphylococcus Saprophyticus.

The experiment shows to prove that the Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis Flower cannot be used as an

alternative medicine in treating Staphylococcus epidermidis and staphylococcus Saprophyticus

 2. The Effect of Different Types of Water on the Growth of Bean Plants

In this experiment, the researcher/s tested how different types of water; namely filtered, pond,

and tap water would affect the lima and red kidney beans plant growth. In their conclusion, it

states that the different types water did not have any real effect in the growth rate, survival, or

height on the bean plants.

3. Effect of Various Types of Water on the Growth of Radishes

In this experiment, the researcher/s tested how 4 types of water; namely fish, rain, tap water

and Miracle Gro would affect the growth of radishes. As the result of their experiment, the fish

water performed the worst and the water with the Miracle Grow performed best.

VI. PROCEDURE

1. Prepare 2 Welcome Plants (Zamioculas)

2. Place the plants in the same area which would give them equal sunlight.

3. Label the plants (Rice Washings-Plant A, Laundry Water-Plant B)

4. Water the plants each day with its corresponding type of water for 4 weeks.

5. Observe and take note of the results.

VII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The table below shows the results of the experiment performed on the welcome plants in the

span of one month.

WEEK PLANT A (RICE WASHINGS) PLANT B (LAUNDRY WATER)

1 There were no drastic changes
and the plant remained the
same.
2 Same as week 1, changes are
not that visible. But, there were
no harmful effects seen.
3 Comparing to Plant B, it looked
more alive. Basing on the
physical aspect, the leaves in
this plant looked healthier.
4 Still, no drastic changes were
seen. But the plant is alive, it
looked healthy and there were
no harmful effects making Rice
Washings an alternative
watering solution to Welcoming
Plants.
There were no drastic changes
and the plant remained the
same.
Same as week 1, changes are
not that visible. But, there were
no harmful effects seen.
The plant still looked the same
as it was during the first week,
there were no signs of “dying”
state.
No drastic changes and harmful
effects were seen. The plant is
alive. Though it looked less
healthy than the Plant A. Plant B
was still the same. With this, we
can conclude that Laundry
Water can also be an alternative
watering solution.

Based on the observations from the table above, no drastic or obvious changes could be

seen from both the plants watered with laundry water and rice washings. The main reason why

no much changes are seen could be due to the amount of time the experiment was held. A month

may not be enough to fully observe the effects of the rice washings and laundry water on the

Zamioculas. Although stated above, the plant watered with rice washings seemed to be healthier

compared to the plant watered with laundry water, making it more beneficial to the welcome

plant. According to research, rice washings, depending on the type of rice; how much water was

used; and how the rice was washed, could contain protein, crude fiber, free amino acids, calcium,

total phosphorus, iron, zinc, potassium, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. These nutrients are
greatly beneficial to plant growth, and in the same research it states that rice washings could be a

great alternative to fertilizers.

On the other hand, the laundry water used did not contain any detergents or bleaches; it

was just the water that dirty clothes were soaked in. Depending on what other chemicals the

laundry water may contain, the damage or benefit it could do to a plant varies. For example, the

salt content of detergents, particularly the Sodium content, would greatly damage not only the

plant, but even the soil; however, organic materials and Phosphate and Nitrogen which can also

be found in detergents are beneficial to plant growth. Considering we did not add detergents to

our solution, it may be the reason why we did not see much change in our plant growth. The

plant may survive on the solution we have made, but it is uncertain if it will be beneficiary to the

plant in the long run.

VIII. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, both rice washings and laundry water could be used as alternatives for

watering solutions in our household plants, however; considering both the effects of these water,

the better option to choose as an alternative would be the rice washings because not only would

it be a great help in conserving water, but it could also conserve money. Also, the benefits that

come with it will not require a fertilizer to sustain the nutrients needed by the plant.

IX. RECOMMENDATION

If the researchers were given another opportunity to conduct this experiment, they would

adjust the time spent; 4 weeks is not enough to see the full effect of these water solutions, so the

longer the time, the more accurate the results would be. Another thing they would like to change
is the types of watering solutions we could use to water the plants. We could add more household

water waste that could possibly be of benefit to the plants such as the different kinds of grey

water such as water from bathroom sinks and bathtubs. Lastly, the researchers would also like to

add more plants to observe the various effects the water solutions would have on them.

X. RESEARCHERS

Patricia Lowell N. Andaya

Glyssa Kamille D. Dela Cruz

Catherine Grace A. Tuangco

XI. ADVISER

Sir Stephen Adap

XII.REFERENCES

Debbi Buettner. (2007, March 27). Rice Water for Plants. Retrieved February 11,

2018 from ThriftyFun: https://www.thriftyfun.com/tf79807203.tip.html

Heather Rhoades. (2017, May 22) How to take care of Hibiscus Plants.

Retrieved February 11, 2018 from Gardening Know How:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/hibiscus/how-to-care-for.html

Care for Orchids (n.d) In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 11, 2018 from

https://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-Orchids
 Gallardo,J.,Andaya, P., Bautista, M., Lindio. M., Feria, B. (2017). The Effectivity

of Rice Washings in the Growth of Orchid Plants. Unpublished dissertation, Elizabeth

Seton School, Las Pinas City

Christopher Teh (2017, November 16) Is Watering Our Houseplants with Washed

Rice Water Really That Effective? Here’s the Scientific Evidence. Retrieved February 11,

2018 from http://www.christopherteh.com/blog/2017/11/washed-rice-water/

APPENDIX

PLANT A (Rice Washings) PLANT B (Laundry Water)

BEFORE
AFTER 4

WEEKS