Sungai Penchala the 'Sewer of PJ'
By NST reports
SUNGA! Penchala should be renamed the "Sewer of Petaling Jaya" as it is a river of every imaginable type of waste.
Petaling Jaya factories, backyard industries and households are the culprits, a New Straits Times investigation recently revealed.
The waste included human waste pumped from sewage tanks into the river upstream at Section 14.
Factories located by the riverbanks at Section 14 and at 13km Jalan Kiang Lama are suspected to be the main polluters of the river.
Factory and workshop owners pour their waste into the drains.
These drains, inconspicuously located at the back of the factories, all lead into the river;
Chemical factories, sawmills, detergent producers, printing presses, paint factories and acid production factories pollute the river.
Among the wastes that find its way into the river are dyes, paint, chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and bychlorobenzene, oil and acid residue.
The water flowing behind the Section 14 factories has various colours — red, green and blue.
The river also emanates a foul smell. This is the shocking state of the water that passes through squatter settlements and housing estates every day.
Squatters have been using the water from the river for washing clothes and cleaning their homes but now have stopped. Children, however, continue to play in the river.
In a test by the Department of Environment last month at the Sungai Penchala beside the Federal Highway, it was found that the water was acidic with a reading of pH4.35. ("Neutral" water is of pH7 while acidic water has lower pH and water which is alkaline is of higher pH.)
At another point of the river, tests showed that the water was slightly alkaline with a reading of pH7.74.
The river is also dead. Dissolved oxygen was found to be only 0.4 mg per litre compared with the minimum requirement of three mg per litre for life, although preferably, the reading should be seven mg per litre.
Besides Sungai Penchala, other rivers, including the Sungai Klang in the Klang Valley, are also badly polluted.
Sungai Klang was listed as the sixth most polluted river with sewage and animal waste in the DOE 1990 report.
The river was found to have excessive lead, mercury and zinc. Tests by the DOE showed that dissolved oxygen in the Sungai Kerayong was 0.4 mg per litre.
Rubbish — paper and plastics — were also found floating in the river at Jalan Klang Lama.
At the Sungai Jinjang, the dissolved oxygen was 2 mg per litre but it was also filled with rubbish.
State Assemblyman for Kelana Jaya Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas said although it was an offence to dump waste into the river, factories were still doing it.
He said a total change of attitude was necessary to stop pollution in Sungai Penchala and other rivers in the country.
"What we need is to start educating the people from young to be aware and care for the environment," he said.
Sewage water dumped into river
GOTCHA! A tanker driver and his assistants were seen dumping sewage water into Sungai Penchala in Jalan 14/1, Petaling Jaya.
This shocking discovery was made by a team of New Straits Times reporters while staking out the river recently.
The Petaling Jaya Municipal Council which was shown photographic evidence of the act said it would require further information before taking action.
A spokesman said the company was contracted to clear septic tanks to facilitate repairs. The sewage was to be dumped in the sewage treatment plant in Pantai Dalam.
The NST team saw three men using a large hose to siphon sewage water from the tanks into the river.
The water in the river was black and the stench over powering. On further investigation it was found that the men had to puncture the tank to release water before they could pump out the sewage.
The council said although it was necessary to remove the water from the septic tank, the method used was wrong. The water should have been channeled into the filter pond before being released into the river.
Source : New Straits Times, April 30, 1992
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