1.

0 INTRODUCTION
Water is essential for life. All living things need it to survive. In society, the
demand for clean and portable water has increased tremendously due to rapid
development and a growing population. The demand is not only for human beings but
also for aquatic life that use water or river as their habitats and this aquatic life eventually
become a source of protein for humans. Thus, it is imperative that every effort should be
made in order to protect and conserve existing water recourse, namely our rivers for
present and future needs. Water quality refers to the chemical, physical and biological
characteristics of water. It can be measured by several factors such as the concentration of
dissolved oxygen, bacteria levels or the amount of material suspended in the water
(turbidity). Brandvold, et al. (1976) stated that water quality parameters can be divided
into two major groups namely physical and chemical. The examples of physical
parameters are total suspended solids (TSS), temperature, color and turbidity, while, the
examples of chemical parameters are dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), conductivity, pH and others.

2.0 CASE STUDY DESCRIPTION

River that was studied in this report is Mengkibol River located at Kluang Town. The
predominant land use was residential and commercial areas. Mengkibol River is a small
river that flows northward through the town of Kluang. Mengkibol River receives flows
from Melantai River before joining Semberong River. The upstream of the river is
located in palm oil estate near to Kampung Sayong with an approximate length of 20 km.
Kluang town lies about 110 km north of Johor Bahru, west of Mersing and south of
Segamat. The studied reach was located at the middle section of the river, nearby the bus
station as shown in Figure 1).

Figure 1: The location of

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 sampling reach for Mengkibol River
Generally, Kluang lies in an area of undulating hills. The highest point in the area is
Gunung Lambak (510 m) that lies about 6 km southeast from the centre of town. Kluang
Town is landlocked and has no seafront. According to the Majlis Perbandaran Kluang
(2004), Kluang Town has a population of approximately 56000 residents, where the area
is largely occupied with residential areas (1437 ha), commercial buildings (100 ha) and
facilities, while in overall Kluang district is mainly covered with agricultural lands with
11500 ha in total. The agricultural activities here consist mainly of palm oil plantations,
rubber planting as well as fruit plantations. From observations, about two-third of Kluang
Town is covered by impervious areas, which comprised of road pavement, building and
storm drainage. Figure 2 shows Sungai Mengkibol that runs through the town.

Figure 2: Sungai Mengkibol runs through the commercial areas in Kluang town.

The river, which act as the main storm water drainage for the town (as shown in
Figure 2) had experienced many flood events, which the most recent and worst was
during the abnormally high rainfall in December 2006 to January 2007. More than 400
mm of rain was recorded which was far exceeding the long-term mean monthly rainfall
for Johor. About 6 km stretch of the river, starting from Taman Muhibah area until the
downstream, has undergone major flood mitigation works, such as dredging, channel
widening, bank stabilizations and riparian vegetations. The enhancement of the amenity

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and recreational sites has been recently developed at some areas along the riverbank,
especially at 700 m stretch along Jalan Cantik, namely Mengkibol Riverine Park. Besides
receiving flows from town drainage, the river also receives effluents from waste water
treatment plant, food stall, wet market and domestic discharge. The reach is a second-
order river.

3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Water quality assessment
The surface water quality for the river was analyzed by the application of the
Department of Environment (DOE) values of Water Quality Index (WQI) and Interim
Water Quality Standard (INWQS). The water level of Sungai Mengkibol was decreased
due to a long period of dry episodes. From WQI results Sungai Mengkibol was in Class
IV. Based on the classification by DOE, Class IV is suitable for irrigation only.
Mengkibol River water quality was expected as the river served as the main storm water
drainage that catered the entire Kluang Town.
The state of Mengkibol River was very poor and polluted with the BOD value was
within Class IV of INWQS as displayed in Table 1. However, the pH value was classified
as Class I with the water being acidic.

Parameters Sungai Mengkibol

Values Class
BOD (mg/l) 11.87 IV

pH 6.81 I

Table 1 : INWQS results for water quality parameters.

To determine the chemical properties of the sample water from the river, the test that
being conducted are pH value and Biochemical Oyxgen Demand (BOD) test. BOD was
conducted to measure the concentration of organic matter in wastewater.. It is the oxygen
equivalent of organic matter. The result of BOD test is 11.87 indicated the Mengkibol
River is in class IV river. The value was determine by measuring the dissolved oxygen
used by microorganisms during the biochemical oxidation of organic matter in 5 days at

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20C. On the other hand, pH value is used to describe the acid or base properties of water
solutions.
From the test result, the pH value is 6.81 below than pH 7. It indicates that the water
is acidic in nature. The pH of water altered due to many factors such as acidic rain, soil
runoff, mineral leaching and decomposing. The physical characteristics of wastewater
include those items that can be detected using the physical senses. They are color, odor
and solids. Based on observation, the color of the sample water from the river is
yellowish grey. This characteristics shows that the sources of water are from
domestic/industrial wastes and natural decay of organic organisms. In terms of odor, the
smell of the sewage from the river is oily and soapy. This indicates that decomposing of
wastewater and industrial waste are happens.

4.0 CAUSES
In Johor, around 50 rivers were highly polluted and the state government need to
embark on a river restoration exercise with priority given to improving water dam
management. Mengkibol River which is situated in Kluang is a small river that flows
through the town. Mengkibol had been transformed into urban drain where all the
discharge from Kluang Town were channelled into Mengkibol. As the Mengkibol River
that is categorised as Class IV river which are harmful and not suitable to be source of
drink water, it is precisely because of the several causes behind all this to be happened.
The causes are:-
Urban development: As population has grown in Kluang Town, so the demand for
housing, food and cloth is increased. As the city developed, they have resulted in increase
in construction and industrialization, increase use of fertilizers to produce more food,
activities, inadequate sewer collection and treatment and increase in chemicals from
industries to produce more materials. All this development effects the condition of
Mengkibol River that is situated in town.
Industrial waste: Two factories that located near the Mengkibol River produces huge
amount of waste. These two industries do not have proper waste management system and
drain the waste in the fresh water which goes into the rivers The toxic chemicals that mix
up with water and discharge to the river have the capability to change the color of water

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and make the water high turbidity and increase the amount of minerals.
Chemical fertilizers and pesticides: Mengkibol River also near with the small
agricultural. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used by farmers to protect crops from
insects and bacterias. They are useful for the plants growth. However, when it rains, the
chemicals mixes up with rainwater and flow down into Mengkibol River and it is harmful
for aquatic animals. In addition, these chemicals are mixed up with water of the river
produce harmful for plants and animals.
Sewage and waste water: Mengkibol River transformed as sewage receiver from Kluang
Town. Sewage which is originating primarily from kitchen, bathroom and laundry
sources produced by each household discharges to the river. Domestic sewage contains a
wide variety of dissolved and suspended impurities such as organic materials and plant
nutrients. Plant nutrients come from chemical soaps, washing powders and others.
Domestic sewage is also very likely to contain disease-causing microbes. The various
substance that used for keeping houses clean add to water pollution on the river because
they contain harmful chemical. Most detergents and washing powders contain phosphate.
When sewage enters the river, microorganisms begin to decompose the organic materials.
Oxygen is consumed as micro-organisms use it in their metabolism.

5.0 IMPLICATIONS
Human Health : Although Mengkibol River is not the source of water for Kluang
residents but the environment of the river is not safe for human. Domestic and solid
wastes that discharge to the river will become medium for germs from growth of flies,
mosquitoes and others. Germs will spreading to other places and can effect human by
their foods, environment and others. Therefore, they will have possibility to get serious
diseases such as cholera, taun any etc.
Death of aquatic animals: In Mengkibol River there are aquatic animals such as fish.
However, if there is no solution for treat ment on the river. For the next two or any years
on the future, the problem caused by water pollution is that it will kills life of aquatic that
depends on these water bodies. The fish killed by pollutants in their habitat.
Algae growth : The water quality pollution also encourage the algae growth and causes
the growth of many more water organism. This algae attack affects fish and other aquatic

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animals by absorbing and reducing their oxygen supply. Fish can also be killed when
excessive algae get caught in their gills. This is due to the nutrients that came from
domestic sewage. If there is no treatment to be taken, algae growth can lead the the
eutrophication.
Destruction of ecosystems: Ecosystems around Mengkibol River can be severely
changed or destroyed by water pollution. Many areas along this river are now being
affected by careless human pollution. The value of BOD test shows that the river was not
really clean as in Class IV . If this happen continuously, many ecosystem will be affected
and dies. If the qualities of river are increasingly polluted, the image of Kluang Town will
be affected because the river is also flowing around the city.

Economic cost: There is some real financial implications that will result from water
pollution if the parties involved want to clean up the river environment. It can cost a lot
more to purify drinking water that takes its source from nutrient polluted water bodies.
There are lots of money is spent to clean up the water. If the Mengkibol River lead to not
being treated from now on, there will be more costly to treat it on future.

6.0 SOLUTION AND ADVANTAGES

Sewerage management in Malaysia prior to 1993 was under the jurisdiction of local
authorities. In order to solve the water pollution problem that happened in Mengkibol
River, a treatment system which is suitable and efficient is proposed namely Municipal
Sewerage System. Municipal Sewerage System is primarily organic in content- means
that the main treatment processes are geared towards organics removal. The advantages
of the this system is that it is economical treatment for an area because it used small
number of area plant, high stability cleaning, suitable for object with irregular operation,
low operating cost and need simple installation.
In Johor, Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru has run the management of sewerage
services in the local authority operational areas including Mengkibol River in Kluang. In
a typical treatment plant, the wastewater is directed through series of physical, chemical,
and biological processes each with a specific waste load reduction task. The series of
processes are designed to reduce BOD/ COD are in fact also to reduce the dissolved solid

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fraction. This kind of treatment is proposed so that the water can be used at least as water
recreation and most importantly, can being safely returned to the environment. By doing
this, we can at least reduced water pollution in Malaysia. The major process of Municipal
Wastewater Treatment System are pre-treatment, primary treatment, secondary treatment
and tertiary treatment (advance treatment). Each process has a specific difference/degree
of performance:

Figure 3: Typical wastewater treatment plant

6.1 Preliminary Treatment

Preliminary treatment is the first step in wastewater treatment. The process involves are
screening (bar rack) and grit chamber. Treatment equipment are bar screens, comminates
(a large version of a garbage disposal), and grit chambers . Preliminary treatment is to
screen out, grind up, or separate debris. Sticks, rags, large food particles, sand, gravel,
toys, etc., are removed at this stage to protect the pumping and other equipment in the
treatment plant. The collected debris is usually disposed of in a landfill. Bar rack is
designed to accommodate through velocity greater than 0.5m/s and less than 1.2 m/s with

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max head losses 0.7 m. Then, the water will goes to grit chamber. In this process, grit will
be removed because its inclusion within the system can abrade mechanical equipment.
Then, raw water moves from this chamber to next step of treatment process.

Figure 4: Grit Chamber

6.2 Primary Treatment

Primary treatment often called clarification, sedimentation or settling is the second step in
treatment and separates suspended solids and greases from wastewater. Waste-water is
held in a quiet tank for several hours (~2h) allowing the particles to settle to the bottom
and the greases to float to the top. The solids drawn off the bottom and skimmed off the
top receive further treatment as sludge. The clarified wastewater flows on to the next
stage of wastewater treatment. Clarifiers and septic tanks are usually used to provide
primary treatment. The objectives of the process is to produce a liquid effluent of suitably
improved quality fo the next treatment stage and to achieve a solids separation resulting
in a primary sludge that can be conveniently treated and disposed. In this process
reduction happened for suspended solids, BOD5 and amount of waste activated sludge
(WAS). The tank can be divided into circular and rectangular sedimentation

6.3 Secondary treatment

Secondary Treatment is a biological treatment process to remove dissolved organic matter

from wastewater. It is the availability of many organisms, organic material, oxygen and

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favorable environment (temperature and sufficient time). The stabilization of organic
material (pollutant) is accomplished by microbes which convert colloidal and dissolved
organic matter into gases and protoplasm. Microbes need elements like terminal electron
acceptor, macronutrients, micronutrients and appropriate environment like moisture,
temperature and pH. In closed system, with mixed organisms and substrate population
cycle as bacteria give away to level organism in turn die for lack of food. However, in
open system, with continuous inflow of new substrate, the predominant populations will
change through the length of plant. Sewage microorganisms are cultivated and added to
the wastewater. The microorganisms absorb organic matter from sewage as their food
supply. Three approaches are used to accomplish secondary treatment; fixed film,
suspended film and lagoon systems. Then, it involves decomposition of waste where the
removal of the organic matter from sewage occurs through process of catabolism
(reactions of energy production, in which substrate decomposition occurs).

6.3.1 Fixed Film Systems

Fixed film systems grow microorganisms on substrates such as rocks, sand or plastic. The
wastewater is spread over the substrate, allowing the wastewater to flow past the film of
microorganisms fixed to the substrate. As organic matter and nutrients are absorbed from
the wastewater, the film of microorganisms grows and thickens. Trickling filters, rotating
biological contactors, and sand filters are examples of fixed film systems.

6.3.2 Suspended Film Systems

Suspended film systems stir and suspend microorganisms in wastewater. As the

microorganisms absorb organic matter and nutrients from the wastewater they grow in
size and number. After the microorganisms have been suspended in the wastewater for
several hours, they are settled out as a sludge. Some of the sludge is pumped back into the
incoming wastewater to provide "seed" microorganisms. The remainder is wasted and
sent on to a sludge treatment process. Activated sludge, extended aeration, oxidation
ditch, and sequential batch reactor systems are all examples of suspended film systems.

6.3.3 Lagoon System

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Lagoon systems are shallow basins which hold the waste-water for several months to
allow for the natural degradation of sewage. These systems take advantage of natural
aeration and microorganisms in the wastewater to renovate sewage.

6.3.4 Final Treatment

Final treatment focuses on removal of disease-causing organisms from wastewater.

Treated wastewater can be disinfected by adding chlorine or by using ultraviolet light.
High levels of chlorine may be harmful to aquatic life in receiving streams. Treatment
systems often add a chlorine-neutralizing chemical to the treated wastewater before
stream discharge. Secondary treatment process coupled with disinfection may remove
over 85% of the BOD and SS and nearly all pathogens. Process capable of removing
pollutant which is not adequately removed by secondary treatment is called tertiary
treatment (advanced treatment) or advanced treatment.

6.3 Tertiary Treatment/ Advanced Treatment

Advanced treatment is necessary in some treatment systems to remove nutrients from

wastewater. Chemicals are sometimes added during the treatment process to help settle
out or strip out phosphorus or nitrogen. Some examples of nutrient removal systems
include coagulant addition for phosphorus removal and air stripping for ammonia
removal.

6.4 Sludges Treatment

Sludges are generated through the sewage treatment process. Primary sludges, material
that settles out during primary treatment, often have a strong odor and require treatment
prior to disposal. Secondary sludges are the extra microorganisms from the biological
treatment processes. The goals of sludge treatment are to stabilize the sludge and reduce
odors, remove some of the water and reduce volume, decompose some of the organic
matter and reduce volume, kill disease causing organisms and disinfect the sludge.
Untreated sludges are about 97 percent water. Settling the sludge and decanting off the
separated liquid removes some of the water and reduces the sludge volume. Settling can

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result in a sludge with about 96 to 92 percent water. More water can be removed from
sludge by using sand drying beds, vacuum filters, filter presses, and centrifuges resulting
in sludges with between 80 to 50 percent water. This dried sludge is called a sludge cake.
Aerobic and anaerobic digestion are used to decompose organic matter to reduce volume.
Digestion also stabilizes the sludge to reduce odors. Caustic chemicals can be added to
sludge or it may be heat treated to kill disease-causing organisms.
7.0 CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, previous understanding in the quality of a good river is to maintain
the best water quality in order to support the aquatic life or high economical value.
Although water quality could be improved and could be regarded as one of the success
stories of river rehabilitation, the return of indigenous flora and fauna has been a slow
and often unpredictable process. Thus, stream and river management nowadays would
not only focus on the improvement of the river alone. This is because rivers, streams and
wetlands work as an integrated ecosystem in maintaining the stability and function of a
water body.
As for the water quality, the BOD parameter of Mengkibol River are classified as
Class IV in the Water Quality Index (WQI) indicate that the water is very polluted. In
other hand, the presence of the decomposing of plants in the water has increased the pH
value to be acidic due to the production of humic acid in the water from the decomposing
process. Dissolved oxygen is important to the health of aquatic ecosystems. All water
animals need oxygen to survive. Natural waters with high dissolved oxygen levels are
most likely healthy and can support an array of water organisms. Without the right
amount of dissolved oxygen, the water may not be able to support aquatic life.
BOD stands for biochemical oxygen demand. It is the measure of the quantity of
dissolved oxygen used by bacteria as they break down organic wastes. In polluted water,
most of the dissolved oxygen is robbed by the bacteria, not allowing aquatic life of the
dissolved oxygen needed to live. On the other hand, pH is a measurement of the acidic or
basic quality of water. The scale ranges for a 0 value, which is very acidic, to 14, which is
very basic, with 7 being neutral. The pH of normal water is between 6.5 and 8.2. pH can
be affected by industrial waste, agricultural runoff, or drainage from improperly run
mining operations.

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 Water pollution has many forms, all of which are damaging and none of which are
less important than the other. All water pollution have unimaginable consequences. These
effects effectively choke out the water they pollute and have the ability to devastate entire
ecosystems centered on a water supply. Municipal Wastewater Treatment System is one
of the method that can treat the condition of the pollution happen in Mengkibol River. By
doing treatment, we can protecting the public health and the save the environment.

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