Sains Malaysiana 42(11)(2013): 1539–1548
The
'Black Waters' of Malaysia: Tracking Water Quality from the Peat
Swamp
Forest
to the Sea
('Air Hitam' di Malaysia: Menyusuri Kualiti Air dari Hutan Paya Gambut
ke Laut)
KIM IRVINE1*, STEPHEN
VERMETTE1& FIRUZA BEGHAM MUSTAFA2
1Department of Geography and Planning; and Center
for Southeast Asia Environment and
Sustainable Development, Buffalo State, State University
of New York
Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY, 14222,
USA
2Department of Geography, Faculty of Social
Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Diserahkan:
19 Julai 2012/Diterima: 8 Mei 2013
ABSTRACT
Longitudinal water quality trends were assessed in the Tengi River
system, Selangor, Malaysia, as the water moved from a peat swamp forest,
through different agricultural land uses and finally through a town and then to
the Straits of Malacca. Water draining from the peat swamp forest was dark in
color due to its organic content and low in dissolved oxygen, pH, E. coli, calcium, nitrate and ammonia. The
normal diurnal pattern for water temperature was observed for the peat swamp
forest drainage, but there was no clear diurnal pattern evident in the
dissolved oxygen data. The E. coli levels increased monotonically from
the peat swamp forest waters (0 colonies/100 mL) through the agricultural areas
(100-2000 colonies/100 mL) and town (7100 colonies/100 mL) and similarly pH
increased along the same continuum. Dissolved oxygen increased from the peat
swamp forest through the agricultural areas, but was lower in the town-impacted
reach of the Tengi River.
Keywords: Dissolved oxygen; E. coli; land use; peat swamp forest; Selangor
ABSTRAK
Analisis corak perubahan kualiti air telah
dilakukan di Sungai Tengi di Selangor, Malaysia. Perubahan guna tanah berlaku
di sepanjang kawasan aliran sungai iaitu bermula dari hutan paya gambut,
pelbagai kawasan pertanian dan seterusnya melalui kawasan pekan dan akhirnya
mengalir keluar ke Selat Melaka. Air sungai yang
mengalir dari kawasan hutan paya gambut berwarna gelap kerana kandungan organik
yang tinggi. Air tersebut mempunyai kandungan rendah bagi parameter
oksigen terlarut (DO), pH (asid), bakteria E. coli, kalsium (Ca), nitrat (NO3-)
dan amonia (NH3). Hasil
kajian mendapati parameter air mempunyai pola diurnal yang normal, tetapi tiada
pola diurnal yang jelas bagi parameter oksigen terlarut. Analisis mendapati oksigen terlarut meningkat dari kawasan hutan
paya gambut ke kawasan pertanian dan seterusnya berkurangan apabila melalui
kawasan pekan dan petempatan di Tanjung Karang. Tahap E. coli meningkat
secara selanjar iaitu di hutan paya gambut (0 koloni/100 mL), kawasan pertanian
(100-2000 koloni/100 mL) dan pekan (7100 koloni/100 mL). Parameter pH meningkat
sepanjang kontinum yang sama.
Kata kunci: E. Coli;
guna tanah; hutan paya gambut; kualiti air; oksigen terlarut; Selangor
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*Pengarang
untuk surat-menyurat; email: irvinekn@buffalostate.edu
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