SOLUTION OF WATER POLLUTION IN JURU RIVER

Water resources are extremely limited as the Earths population continue to grow. As it is very
limited, the water quality is reduced day by day indicating water pollution. Water resources such
as oceans, lakes, rivers and inland water are gradually polluted, mostly by human activities.
Naturally, these water resources are able to clean up a certain amount of pollution by dispersing
it harmlessly. The certain amount of pollution is dispersed in the large volume of water, hence,
lowering the concentration of the pollution. However, the large volume of water will eventually
becomes concentrated with pollutants if a massive amount is poured every few seconds. Water
pollution is all about quantities of how much of a pollutant is discharged and how big a volume
of water it is released into. This is the reason why legislations and regulations are implemented
on the limitations of polluting substances can be discharged into water resources.

Water pollution can be detected by measuring the quality of water. It can be measured
chemically and biologically. Chemically, it can be done by taking samples of the water and
measure the concentrations of different chemicals that it contains. The water can be regarded
as polluted if the chemicals present in it or the concentrations are too great. As for biological
measurement, it can be done by examining the fish, insects, and other invertebrates that the
water will support. If the water can sustain various types of creatures, then the quality is likely to
be very good, and if it cannot support no fish life at all, then obviously the quality is much
poorer.

Juru River in Penang, Malaysia is one of the most polluted rivers as it is accumulated of 40
years worth of industrial toxic waste and now is being further threatened by effluents from
shrimp farms. The water is so toxic that it is unsafe for drinking even after being boiled. In a
recent study conducted by the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) exposed that the toxic
waste was from the nearby Prai Industrial Park. Apart from that, other sources of pollution were
residential water waste and black oil discharged to drains linked to Juru River. This pollution is
endangering the mangrove trees along the river and destroys natural breeding grounds for
marine life, hence threatening the income source of local fishermen.

Hence, it is very crucial to find solution to this problem. One of the ways to solve the pollution
problem is water treatment technology. The focus of water treatment is more on the effective
and lower-cost side (Shannon et al., 2008). Various methods such as coagulation, membrane
process, adsorption, dialysis, foam flotation, osmosis, photo catalytic degradation and biological
methods have been used for the removal of toxic pollutants from water and wastewater.
However, these methods have been restricted by a number of factors, such as processing
efficiency, energy requirement, engineering expertise, economic benefit and infrastructure.

Juru River or any rivers could contain pathogens, bacteria, harmful microorganisms and viruses
that are invisible to the eyes. This could be the result of pollution by residential and industrial
wastes discharged in it. One of the methods that can be applied in Juru River as disinfection
steps are ozonation and chlorination in which helped to control human pathogens. These
advanced treatment processes are very effective at eliminating most unwanted pathogens and
many chemicals (Escher, 2013).

Not only pathogens, Juru River also contain organic compounds and metal ions in it that mostly
came from industrial effluent. In order to solve this matter, a method called semiconductor photo
catalytic process could be applied in Juru River. This is a low-cost, environmental friendly and
sustainable treatment technology as to align with the zero waste scheme in the
water/wastewater industry (Chong et al., 2010). This is an advanced oxidation technology which
is able to remove persistent organic compounds, arsenic metal ions and microorganisms from
the water. Hence, it can be one of the solutions to the water pollution problem in Juru River.

Apart from that, adsorption method can also be applied in Juru River as it is is one of the most
effective processes of advanced water treatment technologies. This method has been widely
employed by industry and academic researchers for the removal of various pollutants. Since
Juru River contains various pollutants, hence this method is suitable to be applied as the
solution to its pollution issue. The adsorbent to be used is activated carbon as it is one of the
most widely investigated adsorbent in water treatment process (Rao et al., 2009). There is
another method called biosorption that can be used as one of the solutions to water pollution
problem. This method uses biomaterials as the adsorbent for contaminated water treatment
(Reddy et al., 2011). Compared to adsorption, biosorption is rarely employed on an industrial
scale. Apart from activated carbon, the application of magnetic adsorbent technology for
separation of pollutants in water has become attentive in recent years. This magnetic
adsorbents can be applied for metallic and dye pollutants, particularly due to the simple
magnetic separation process.
Apart from water treatment technology, river management is one of the ways to solve the water
pollution problem in Juru River. It is not easy to do river management as it is regarded as a
complex task and early planning is much needed to ensure that our beloved rivers are kept free
from any form of pollution. Just by citing a good example, our nations neighbour - Singapore,
which succeeded in cleaning up its rivers many years back after a deliberation of meticulous
planning and enforcement that their rivers are now natural assets and provide recreation for
tourists and its local peoples. Keeping a river clean not only require to stop all the water sources
of pollution but also about maintaining the good quality of water all time round.

In general, the problem that leads to water pollution is the public reactions and feedback on
the importance enforcement of river conservation is still lacking. As for the solution, Malaysian
Department of Environment needs to come out with a more effective enforcement measures
that able to curb public environmental problems especially when water is concerned. Up till now,
there are still many culprits who are responsible in releasing toxic waste directly which later
slowly flows into river are walking free as they have not been convicted in the courthouse. This
indicates that the authorities are not alert with this issue. The enforcement authorities need to
take extra precaution on the arising matter to reduce national river pollutions.

Another solution to water pollution in Juru River is that the guidelines and supervisions of food
courts and workshops by local council should be stern in their actions when comes to license
issuance to food outlets. It is essential to conduct periodical checkups on these food stores as
to ensure that their outlets equipped with grease trap whereby many outlets actually do not
comply with these guidelines. As a matter of fact, the waste with oil pollutants is one of the
sources of pollution in Juru River which put it in jeopardized situation.

Another source of pollution in Juru River is sewerage system. Commonly, the sewerage waters
are leaking into drain system then flows into rivers. Hence, in order to solve the problem, Indah
Water Konsortium must play a vital role in this case. The solution is pretty much straightforward
which is by creating a buffer between the river and housing estates. No house should be built
along river banks and there should be a river reserve of adequate distance between the houses
and the river. In case of errant violations, heavy penalties should be imposed. In order to avoid
the illegal sewerage issue, a proper sewerage system must be provided before a housing
project is approved. Road drainage should be properly connected also to provide a proper
system that prevents untreated water being channelled into rivers. Hence, the water pollution by
this source could be reduced in Juru River.

Lastly, both state (Penang) and federal (Malaysia) governments need to collaborate in providing
the fund for cleaning up the Juru River. It has been a neglected priority for times but it is not too
late to kick a start for protecting and rejuvenating Juru River. The government should start to be
a real leader in managing the pollution problem of the rivers especially Juru River. This polluted
river is such an eyesore to local citizens as well as visitors. Hence, cleaning up and sustaining
our rivers is a worthwhile pursuit for the public.

CONCLUSION

Rivers provide a balance in the eco-system for wildlife and human beings. Rivers are one of the
freshwater sources that is gradually becoming limited due to pollution problems. It is not
surprising the once clean river becomes polluted and germ-ridden due to the publics attitude
that treats their rivers like drain and rubbish disposal channels. And as a result of these, the
people are suffering from the pain of our own omission towards the river that we care less
about. There are various solutions to this water pollution problem; for instance, different
techniques have been developed due to different types of pollutants to be catered in water
treatment. However, cost is always the biggest constraint in making these techniques into
application. Hence, the least we could do is to instil the awareness of how important it is not to
pollute our water sources in every person. Every single individual should feel obliged in
preserving the rivers as it is very hard to solve the pollution problem once it is at critical stage.

REFERENCE

Shannon, M., Bohn, P., Elimelech, M., Georgiadis, J., Marias, B., & Mayes, A. (2008). Science
and technology for water purification in the coming decades. Nature, 452(7185), 301-310.

Escher, B. (2013). Bioanalytical Tools in Water Quality Assessment (1st ed.). IWA Publishing.
Chong, M., Jin, B., Chow, C., & Saint, C. (2010). Recent developments in photocatalytic water
treatment technology: A review. Water Research, 44(10), 2997-3027.

Rao, M., Reddy, D., Venkateswarlu, P., & Seshaiah, K. (2009). Removal of mercury from
aqueous solutions using activated carbon prepared from agricultural by-product/waste. Journal
Of Environmental Management, 90(1), 634-643.

Reddy, D., Ramana, D., Seshaiah, K., & Reddy, A. (2011). Biosorption of Ni(II) from aqueous
phase by Moringa oleifera bark, a low cost biosorbent. Desalination, 268(1-3), 150-157.