Water quality monitoring along Kinta River in peninsular Malaysia

Rising trend of solid waste production particularly in town and city areas has caused numerous environmental pollutions. Population growth, economic and lifestyle patterns are the factors that lead to the alarming rate of solid waste production. Landfilling is widely used for disposal of wastes due to its low operation and maintenance costs. However, leachate discharged from landfill could be a problem to surface and groundwater if it is not adequately treated. So, the investigation of the transportation and transformation phenomena of micro pollutants along the river receiving discharge from landfill leachate is mandatory. This study is carried out to investigate the water quality as well as to detect the presence of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) along Kinta river in Peninsular Malaysia. Water quality parameters i.e. biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, ammoniacal nitrogen, total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen and pH were recorded to calculate the water quality index (WQI). The identification of EDCs was carried out using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. Water quality index result showed that the status of the river in both months fall under good and medium status where it requires intensive/conventional treatment for consumable and drinking purposes. None of the EDCs was detected in any of the samples analysed in the present study. It is believed that the information gained are useful and beneficial for decision making authority.