Headline Bottom approach tackle river pollution Language English Media
Title
New Straits Times Online Section/Page
No
Nation
Date May 31, 2022 Journalist Audrey
Dermawan Source https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/05/800933/bottom-
approach-tackle-river-pollution
Remarks Environment Engineering.
Bottom-up approach to tackle river pollution
By Audrey Dermawan - May 31, 2022 @ 9:05am
A drain that flows into Sungai Juru overflowing with rubbish from an industrial area nearby. PIX BY DANIAL SAAD
GEORGE TOWN: An expert has proposed a bottom-up instead of top-down approach to tackle pollution plaguing Penang's rivers.
Professor Dr Nor Azazi Zakaria, who is Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) engineering campus river and urban drainage research centre director, said people must be empowered to run campaigns like the One State One River plan, and feel like they "own" the river.
"There must be a public-private Love Our Rivers Campaign partnership with input and contributions from government departments, private consulting or advertising companies, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and communities.
"There should be a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach.
"Government departments should not be allowed to run it as they do not have the expertise in public awareness, public education or environmental education.
"I believe that through this approach (of roping in people), only then can we see results," he told the New Straits Times.
Sungai Pinang is widely acknowledged to be Penang’s worst-polluted river.
He was commenting on the NST report on the pollution level of Penang's rivers.
Of the seven main rivers in the state, six of them are in Class III based on the river basin water quality index (WQI) 2016-2022 readings.
It was also reported that 26 of 33 river tributaries that flow into the seven main rivers in the state were slightly polluted and polluted, based on the WQI.
According to the Penang River Quality 2021 (interim) data released by the state Department of Environment (DoE), 21 of the river tributaries are slightly polluted, five polluted and seven clean.
AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS
Nor Azazi said the Love Our Rivers Campaign was first launched by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) in 1993 to educate the public on the importance of rivers and the environment and highlight the critical state of pollution faced by rivers.
He said the DID had its One State, One River plan, launched in 2002.
The programme requires each state to select, with the agreement of the state government, one polluted river for rehabilitation.
The rehabilitation is to be carried out over 10 or 15 years with short-term programmes as follows:
FRAMEWORK for rehabilitation programmes for upstream, middle and downstream stretches of rivers;
RUBBISH removal with the installation of a rubbish trap at source;
FULL enforcement of Manual Saliran Mesra Alam by authorities for all new developments or redevelopments;
ENFORCEMENT of treatment systems, such as food, oil and grease and gross pollutant trap, by authorities for food stalls, market and other activities that contribute to river pollution;
RESETTLEMENT of squatters and relocation of other activities besides river that cause pollution;
RIVERS and their reserves to be gazetted and used as riparian zone for different habitats depending on the river usage, such as urban, rural and water catchment;
PROMOTE and encourage the private sector to follow best management practices for all types of developments, such as erosion and sediment control plan;
TO tighten approval and enforcement of sand mining rules together with mandatory requirements for silt screen to control suspended sediment materials; and,
THE main implementation strategies are preventive measures, curative measures and management, and a few committees involving all stakeholders have been formed to achieve the vision of clean rivers.
LACK OF COORDINATION
Nor Azazi, who is also the Unesco chair on Ecohydraulics for Sustainable Water Infrastructures for Sustainable Development Goal 6 in Asia and the Pacific region, said the lack of coordination between government agencies was one of the reasons the majority of Penang's rivers remained in Class III.
"There are uncertainties in prescriptive and enforcement jurisdiction since river pollution often arises from various sources of pollution.
"So public awareness is crucial to (improve) river water quality.
"Sustainable management of rivers needs the support and collaboration among the government, public and stakeholders (such as industrialists, farmers, educational system)," he added.
Nor Azizi said the pollution in Sungai Pinang, widely acknowledged to be the state's worst-polluted river, was caused by water from human settlement and slaughterhouses, industrial waste, wet markets and agriculture.
As for Sungai Juru, the pollution was caused by pig farms and sewage; for Sungai Jawi, the major pollutants were sewage, pig farm and industrial areas.
He said states might not effectively deal with environmental problems due to the limitation of resources for manpower, budget, monitoring equipment and technical expertise.
He added that efforts from DoE, DID, NGOs and the public were expected to tackle the issue.
"There is no point in cleaning rivers if drains continue to be dirty.
"River pollution should be tackled upstream in which drains are connected to.
"There has to be a mechanism for the state's drains to prevent rubbish and other pollutants entering the rivers. Drain water needs to be cleaned before it enters rivers. A clean drain means clean rivers.
"A sustainable urban storm water management system should be put in place, depending on the suitability of the area."
Penang Department of Environment staff taking a water sample of Sungai Rambai in Bukit Mertajam on May 25. PIX BY DANIAL SAAD
IRBM
Nor Azazi said the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) action plan had been implemented and completed for Sungai Juru and Sungai Prai last year.
IRBM involves 10 aspects: prevention of contamination by livestock waste; establishment of individual treatment plant; centralised wastewater treatment plant; increasing river environmental awareness;
incentive to farmers for improvement of waste management; improving solid waste management system in the river basin; installation of gross pollutant/garbage trap; improving enforcement; ensuring better management of sullage; and sanitation system and real time effluent monitoring programme for factories.
On the prevention of contamination by livestock waste, he said livestock waste, after treatment, could be disposed of in accordance with regulations without endangering the environment.
He said livestock waste treatment plants should be designed, constructed, operated and maintained to not pollute the environment.
On the establishment of treatment plants, he said their establishment was proposed in livestock farms within the basin to control waste discharge into river systems.
On the centralised wastewater treatment plant, he said it could be established if farms could be relocated to a zone where the treatment could be integrated into a single plant.
With a centralised livestock farming, wastewater would be treated and monitored more efficiently.
"The success of this system can happen only with cooperation from all parties.
"Firstly, the government should advise on legislation requirements, and facilitate a soft loan to farmers.
"Secondly, farmers should be willing to invest in the service. Thirdly, farmers should be aware of their responsibility to preserve the environment.
"For example, improve or upgrade the regional sewage treatment plant in Kota Permai to serve the Juru population and enable water quality compliance to class II (IRBM Sungai Juru).
"It is vital that the overloaded Regional Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Kota Permai is upgraded to maintain or improve its efficiency levels in treating sewage.
"Other STPs that are malfunctioning should be shut down, repaired or upgraded to maintain or improve their efficiency levels in treating sewage.
"All STPs should comply with the Class II standard of effluent. This can be achieved by extending and upgrading the treatment process."
'EDUCATE THE PUBLIC'
On increasing river environmental awareness, he said the public's lack of education and awareness about rivers and how they should be managed was a key factor that had led to the state of Malaysia's water quality.
"River environmental awareness programmes, such as River Ranger, River Care Team and River Lover, are good environmental education programmes to educate the public about the environment, water resources and rivers.
"They emphasise not only about water pollution but also every aspect of freshwater ecosystems, including their biodiversity, functions, values and benefits to humankind.
"Increase public awareness with a 3R campaign to encourage public participation.
"In a recycling programme, the Housing and Local Government Ministry can engage a local public relations company to produce pamphlets, posters and billboards and commercial advertisements, and even a theme song," he added.
On incentives for farmers to improve waste management, he said waste reduction provided the greatest benefits by reducing financial and environmental costs.
However, incentives for farmers to reduce waste had been limited and there was potential for reduction of waste streams through improved farming practices, he added.
"However, even with the extensive application of this option, it is unlikely that waste streams will be eliminated.
"The need for other options, therefore, remains. Farmer awareness and motivation are critical to agricultural waste management systems."
He said as far as improving the solid waste management system in a river basin was concerned, large amounts of industrial and household solid wastes were released into the rivers, leading to appalling living conditions, such as water pollution, sludge deposition and acrid odours.
He added that the deterioration of the riverfront environment had led residents into believing that disposing of waste in rivers or drainage canals was an acceptable act.
"Lower levels of awareness make residents more likely to dispose of waste in rivers, thus weakening the flood control capacity of the river and making surrounding areas more exposed to flood risks.
The deterioration of riverfront environment leads residents into believing that disposing of waste in rivers or drainage canals is an acceptable act, says Professor Dr Nor Azazi Zakaria.
"Gross pollutant traps are structures that use physical processes to trap solid waste, such as litter and coarse sediment, before entering the waterways. They are used as the primary treatment because they mostly remove large objects.
"The main pollution sources in urban centres are actually the food outlets and restaurants.
"These were observed to discharge washings and food residue in storm drains, resulting in clogged and oily drains, infestation by pests and subsequent pollution to receiving rivers."
He said wastewater should be directed to an oil and grease trap prior to discharging it into sewers so that it could be treated in a sewage treatment plant.
Wet markets, he said, had created a negative environmental impact through the production of wastewater and solid waste.
He added that the stench of rubbish and flies often became the cause of illnesses, stressing that whenever there was food handling involved, it was natural that wastewater would be generated.
"The quantity and general quality of the wastewater depend on the strength of pollutants.
"The lack of a proper solid waste management system in a market is a crucial aspect that needs attention from various agencies.
"Direct dumping of solid waste in rivers should be prohibited and the solid waste collection services should be more consistent and effective."
LEGISLATION
Malaysia, Nor Azazi said, had good legislation on environmental control and pollution prevention.
The Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 is the parent document that came into force on April 15, 1975.
Up to November 2019, there were 35 sub-legislation in this act. Over half of them were related to water.
He added that the most relevant legislation in the context of the study was the Environmental Quality (Sewage) Regulations 2009 and Environ-mental Quality (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009, both under the EQA.
"The main issue is how these laws can be enforced to deter indiscriminate discharge of a pollutant into rivers.
"Guidelines for controlling non-point source pollution require a concerted effort, especially from the authorities.
"Even though the exact spots of non-point source pollution cannot be identified, but based on the study, there are certain locations and operations that produce a high volume of pollution."
MONITORING
On ensuring better management of sullage and sanitation system, he said, sullage water mostly flowed directly into rivers untreated. Illegal sewer connections may also contribute to pollution.
He urged for a real-time effluent monitoring programme for factories.
He said a reliable monitoring station that provided continuous data in real time was an essential component in wastewater treatment, both for the dynamic process control as well as for monitoring of discharged water from factories.
He added that the real-time monitoring programme for factory effluents should be designed to detect any weakness, failure or lack of compliance as a feedback mechanism to the authorities to ensure measures were undertaken to minimise the impact from effluent sources.
"A well-coordinated real-time monitoring programme should be supported by a monitoring team with a regular schedule to assess regulated maintenance and provision of counter measures where applicable.
"Although an effluent monitoring programme is essential, data sharing to agencies is also crucial to ensure monitored premises remain cautious and in alert mode."
