Article: Relief for river

Tuesday September 15, 2009

SUNGAI Pinang in Penang now has the nasty ranking of the seventh most polluted river in the country. It's a title which the state Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director Hanapi Mohamad Noor hopes to shake off.

And he reckons using Effective Micro-organisms (EM) mudballs in the river, plus curbing pollution from going in, will do the trick. He is optimistic as EM mudballs and EM solution applied at two spots in the river (near the wet market and jetty) since January have borne results.

Before: The rivermouth of Sungai Kelian in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, is covered with a thick layer of sludge.

"The sludge in the river, which used to be about 1m to 2m thick, has reduced by an average of 0.3m. The water is also clearer and there is no more foul smell," says Hanapi.

Measurements taken last month of six parameters (total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, ammonical nitrogen and pH) showed that the water quality has improved from Class IV (suitable only for irrigation) to Class III (suitable for water supply, with extensive treatment). Data on levels of heavy metals were not measured, however.

Hanipi says EM mudballs and EM solution will now be dumped into Sungai Pinang once a month, a scheme that will cost RM30,000 annually. Agreeing that preventing contamination of the river should be priority, he says raw wastewater from the wet market and slaughterhouse beside the river will be diverted to a sewage treatment plant by year-end. The Penang Municipal Council will also have to act on workshops, car wash operations and restaurants, which all directly discharge wastewater into the river.

There are also long-term plans for physical infrastructure. A 3km-long interceptor drain will be built parallel to Sungai Pinang to capture the outflows of over 100 drains, and channel the wastewater to a sewage treatment plant. These drains now empty directly into the river, adding to its foul state. The RM100mil project, if approved for the 10th Malaysia plan, will take off in 2011.

In the meantime, Hanapi says, "We cannot just wait and do nothing. Using EM is one of the efforts so that the river will not worsen."

He became convinced of the efficacy of EM after seeing rivers in Japan cleaned with EM mudballs made by communities. He then tried out the EM remedy on Sungai Perlis in 2006 when he was Perlis DID director. "The water quality was improved. People never used to fish at the river but after the use of EM, many did," says Hanapi.

After: The river has cleared up tremendously after the application of EM solution and EM mudballs over three months.

According to Abdullah Ismail, director of Jamof, the licensed retailer of EM in Malaysia, some 60,000 mudballs and 60 tonnes of EM were dumped over two months into Sungai Perlis in 2006 at a cost of RM100,000.

Penang state, meanwhile, will see wide use of EM technology.

Hanapi says next year, river maintenance work for selected rivers will include the use of EM mudballs, in addition to the normal removal of rubbish and grass-cutting.

"A one-off mudball dumping event is not enough. It has to be a continuous programme. Of course, it will be more effective to stop the pollution at source. We're moving towards that but at the same time, we should also use EM mudballs."

Hanapi says the private sector is encouraged to adopt stretches of rivers in Penang and to keep them clean by using EM mudballs. For instance, the Golden Sands Resort has adopted Sungai Mas and Motorola, Sungai Kluang.

Today: Almost three months after the last EM mudball was tossed in, the river remains generally clear.

He admits that Japanese rivers are in a better state than Malaysia's as there are good sewage treatment plants there and no roadside stalls or pasar malam. "So it will be tougher for us to clean our rivers but with support from the private sector and NGOs, we can make it sustainable."

Related Stories:
The microbial way
Fleeting effect

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Focus 15 September 2009