master thesis the application of environmetric technique in the water quality assessment

THE APPLICATION OF ENVIRONMETRIC TECHNIQUE IN
THE WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT
MOHAMAD ROMIZAN BIN OSMAN
Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirement for the
Master of Science in East Coast Environmental Research Institute
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin
2018

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PENGGUNAAN TEKNIK ENVIRONMETRIK DALAM PENILAIAN
KUALITI AIR SUNGAI
ABSTRAK
Perkembangan urbanisasi yang pesat di kawasan Kuantan, aktiviti perniagaan,
perlombongan bauksit, perlombongan pasir, penternakan dan aktiviti pertanian di
sekitar kawasan sungai berpotensi menjejaskan kualiti air di Sungai Kuantan
terutamanya terhadap peningkatan pencemaran logam berat. Sungai Kuantan telah
dipilih untuk kajian ini sebagai pemantauan berterusan kualiti air berikutan keadaan
dan perkembangan pesat atau aktiviti ekonomi di sekitar sungai kerana ia merupakan
tempat pelancongan dan sumber air untuk masyarakat setempat. Objektif kajian ini
adalah untuk menentukan klasifikasi kualiti air pada pelbagai parameter di permukaan
air sepanjang Sungai Kuantan, mengenal pasti parameter yang paling penting dalam
membezakan corak ruang kualiti air di kawasan kajian, dan mengelaskan sumber
penyebaran pencemaran air di kawasan tersebut. Kajian ini adalah mengenai penilaian
kualiti air di 12 stesen yang terletak di sepanjang Sungai Kuantan. Parameter yang
terlibat didalam kajian ini adalah BOD, COD, DO, pH, TSS, TDS, AN, NN, EC,
kekeruhan, kemasinan dan logam berat seperti Pb, As, Al, Be, Cd, Co, Cd, Cr, Fe, Mg,
Mn, Ni, Se, Ag, Sr, TI, V dan Zn. Kesemua parameter terlibat telah diuji secara terus
di tempat kajian kecuali COD dan logam berat yang mana telah diuji di makmal dan
semua data yang diperolehi dianalisis melalui teknik environmetrik. Terdapat 36 data
dari setiap stesen dianalisis dengan 25 pembolehubah melalui analisis komponen
utama (AKU), analisis algorithma kelompok berhierarki (AAKB) dan analisis
pembezalayan (AP). Oleh yang demikian, terdapat empat kluster telah diklasifikasikan
di Sungai Kuantan setelah APU dan AAKB dieksploitasi di mana S1, S2, S3, S4, S5
dianggap kawasan bersih (KB), S6 dan S7 sebagai kawasan rendah tercemar (KRT),
S8, S9 dan S10 kawasan sederhana tercemar (KST), manakala S11 dan S12 dianggap
sebagai kawasan tercemar yang tinggi (KTT). AP melalui mod ikut langkah
kebelakang telah mengesan terdapat 14 parameter atau pembolehubah penting seperti
TDS, TSS, kemasinan, kekeruhan, COD, AN, EC, NN, Al, As, Mn, Fe, Ag, dan Pb
mempunyai variasi yang tinggi dengan 100% ketepatan. AKU melalui putaran
varimaks terutama pada KTT menerangkan pemuatan faktor positif yang sangat kuat
berkait rapat dengan semua parameter yang dilaksanakan kecuali Be. Kandungan
logam berat seperti Al dan Fe yang melebihi tahap yang dibenarkan oleh INWQS
berkaitan dengan kewujudan bahan tersebut secara semulajadi dan penggunaan tanah
tersebut untuk aktiviti perlombongan bauksit di sekitar kawasan S6, S7 dan S8.
Sementara itu, As wujud mungkin disebabkan oleh penggunaan racun untuk aktiviti
pertanian di sekitar sungai dan aktiviti mengecat terutamanya didalam industri
automotif membawa kepada pencemaran Ag dan Zn. WQI Sungai Kuantan telah
berubah selepas satu dekad dari keadan bersih menjadi sederhana tercemar dan ini
manyatakan bahawa Sungai Kuantan mempunyai potensi untuk menjadi sungai yang
sangat tercemar pada masa hadapan terutamanya terdedah terhadap pencemaran
logam berat. Hasil kajian ini membuktikan bahawa penggunaan teknik environmetrik
untuk menilai variasi ruang dalam indeks pencemaran air di Malaysia yang boleh
membantu agensi kerajaan seperti Jabatan Alam Sekitar (JAS) atau badan bukan
kerajaan (BBK) untuk mengenal pasti lebih banyak punca pencemar air dalam
sesetengah kawasan tanpa kehilangan maklumat penting dan memudahkan mereka
untuk mengurangkan kos langsung dan tidak langsung tanpa kehilangan apa-apa
maklumat penting apabila stesen pemerhatian dapat diminimumkan.

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THE APPLICATION OF ENVIRONMETRIC TECHNIQUE IN THE WATER
QUALITY ASSESSMENT
ABSTRACT
The rapid development of urbanization in the Kuantan area, business activities,
bauxite mining, sand mining, husbandry and agricultural activities around the river
area have the potential to affect the quality of the water in Sungai Kuantan especially
against increased heavy metal pollution. The Kuantan River was selected for this
study as a continuous monitoring of the water quality due to the rapid and rapid
economic developments or activities throughout the river as it is a tourist and water
source for the local community. The objectives of this study are (i) to determine the
water quality based classification on the multiple of parameters in the surface water
along the Kuantan River, (ii) to identify the most significant parameters in
discriminating the spatial pattern of water quality in the study area, and (iii) to classify
the source apportionment of the water pollution in the area. This research is about the
water quality assessment at 12 stations located along the Kuantan River. The
parameters involved in this study are BOD, COD, DO, pH, TSS, TDS, AN, NN, EC,
turbidity, salinity and heavy metal elements such as Pb, As, Al, Be, Cd, Co, Cd, Cr,
Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Se, Ag, Sr, TI, V and Zn. All parameters involved were tested
directly at the site of the study except COD and heavy metals which were tested in the
laboratory and all the data obtained were analyzed through environmetric
techniques.The 36 of data from the each station was analyzed with 25 of the variables
through principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical agglomerative cluster
analysis (HACA) and discriminant analysis (DA). There are four clusters configured
at the Kuantan River after PCA and HACA exploited whereby S1, S2, S3, S4, S5
considered as clean area (CA), S6 and S7 as low polluted area (LPA), S8, S9 and S10
as medium polluted area (MPA), meanwhile S11 and S12 considered as a high
polluted area (HPA). DA through the backward stepwise mode detected there are 14
of significant parameters or variable such as TDS, TSS, turbidity, COD, AN, EC,
salinity, Al, As, Cd, Cr, Fe, Pb and Ag have high variability with 100% of data
accuracy. The PCA rotated varimax especially on HPA explains strongly positive
factor loading correlated with all parameters except Be. The exceed of heavy metal
above the acceptable limit of INWQS such as Al and Fe may correlate with the land
used for the bauxite mining activities and its exist naturally at the S6, S7 and S8.
Meanwhile, As may caused by using of pesticide in the agricultural activities along
the river and painting activities, especially in automotive industry lead to the exceed
of Ag and Zn. The WQI of Kuantan River has altered after a decade from clean to
medium polluted and have potential to be a highly polluted river in the future
especially vulnerable to heavy metal pollution. The findings of this research have
proven that the use of environmetric techniques for evaluating spatial variations in
water quality assessment in Malaysia which able to assist government agency such as
the Department of Environment (DOE) or non-government organizations (NGOs) to
identify more thoroughly source of water pollutions in the certain area without losing
crucial information and facilitate them to reduce direct and indirect cost of operation
without losing any important information when the observation stations can be
minimized.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take this opportunity to express my endless gratefulness and
appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Madya Dr Hafizan Juahir and Dr Azman
Azid for his guidance, comments, patience and imperative advices throughout this
project. I would also like to appreciate them for the time that they spent with me to
discuss and guide me thoroughly despite his busy schedules in completing this project.
I also would like to express my appreciation to my whole family and friends for their
countless support and assistance whenever I faced problems during this project. They
kept encouraging me when I was stressed emotionally and sometimes gave me good
ideas and beneficial suggestion in finishing this project completely. Without them, it
was difficult for me to complete this project report successfully.
I also wish to thanks to staff of East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI),
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus and Kulliyyah of Science,
International Islamic University Malaysia (UIAM) Kuantan Campus for their helping
in providing places, equipment and apparatus that needed during this research.

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APPROVAL
I certify that an Examination Committee has met on 9th December 2015 to conduct
the final examination of Mohamad Romizan Bin Osman, on his Master thesis entitled
“The Application of Environmetric Technique in The Water Quality Assessment” in
accordance with the regulations approved by the Senate of Universiti Sultan Zainal
Abidin. The Committee recommends that the candidate be awarded the relevant
degree, and it has been accepted by the Senate of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin as
fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. The members of
the Examination Committee are as follows:
Chairperson name, PhD
Professor
East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI)
(Chairperson)
Internal examiner, PhD
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Bioresource and Food Industry
(Internal Examiner)
External examiner, PhD
Professor
Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Science
Universiti Malaya
(External Examiner)
_____________________________
Dean name, PhD
Professor/Dean of Graduate School
Date:

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DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE
I hereby declare that this thesis entitled “The Application of Environmetric Technique
in the Water Quality Assessment” is the result of my own research except as cited in
the references. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently
submitted in the candidature of any other degree at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin or
other institutions.
_________________________
Mohamad Romizan bin Osman
Date:

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DECLARATION BY MEMBERS OF SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE
This is to confirm that:
The research conducted and the writing of this thesis was under our supervision.
Signature: _________________________________________
Name of Main Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hafizan bin Juahir
Faculty: East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI), Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin, Terengganu
Signature: _________________________________________
Name of Co-Supervisor: Dr. Azman bin Azid
Faculty: Faculty of Bioresources & Food Industry, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin,
Terengganu

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pag
e
Abstrak ii
Abstract iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
APPROVAL v
DECLARATION vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS viii
LIST OF TABLES xii
LIST OF FIGURES xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiv
LIST OF SYMBOLS xvii
LIST OF APPENDICES
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Research Background 4
1.2 Problem Statement 5
1.3 Research Objectives 6
1.4 Research Questions 6
1.5 Scope of Study 7
1.6 Significance of Study 7
1.7 Thesis Outline 8
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 11
2.2 Water Quality 12
2.2.1 Dissolve oxygen 13
2.2.2 Biological Oxygen Demand 14
2.2.3 Chemical Oxygen Demand 15
2.2.4 Acidity and Alkalinity 16
2.2.5 Ammoniacal Nitrogen 17
2.2.6 Nitrate Nitrogen 17
2.2.7 Total Suspended Solids 18
2.2.8 Total Dissolve Solid 19
2.2.9 Salinity 19
2.2.10 Turbidity 20
2.2.11 Temperature 21
2.2.12 Color 22
2.2.13 Microbial 22

ix
2.2.14 Hardness 23
2.2.15 Conductivity 24
2.3 Water pollution and health effects 26
2.3.1 Organic pollutant 27
2.3.2 Inorganic Pollutant 28
2.3.3 Heavy Metal Pollutants 29
2.3.3.1 Lead 31
2.3.3.2 Aluminum 32
2.3.3.3 Arsenic 33
2.3.3.4 Cadmium 34
2.3.3.5 Iron 35
2.3.3.6 Nickel 36
2.3.3.7 Cooper 37
2.3.3.8 Manganese 37
2.3.3.9 Chromium 38
2.3.3.10 Cobalt 39
2.3.3.11 Beryllium 40
2.3.3.12 Strontium 41
2.3.3.13 Magnesium 42
2.3.3.14 Selenium 43
2.3.3.15 Vanadium 44
2.3.3.16 Thallium 45
2.3.3.17 Silver 46
2.3.3.18 Zinc 47
2.3.3.19 Mercury 47
2.3.4 Suspended Solids and Sediment Pollution 48
2.3.5 Thermal Pollution 49
2.3.6 Pathogenic Microbes Pollution 50
2.3.7 Radioactive Pollution 51
2.3.8 Nutrients Pollution 52
2.4 Water Quality Assessment 53
2.4.1 Malaysia water quality status 54
2.4.2 Water Quality Testing 55
2.4.2.1 Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy 56
2.4.2.2 Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission 57
Spectroscopy
2.4.2.3 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectroscopy
57
2.4.3 Water Quality Index 58
2.5 Water Quality Modelling 63
2.5.1 Deterministic Model 64

x
2.5.2 Stochastic model 65
2.5.3 Statistical Model 66
2.5.3.1 Multivariate Statistical Models 68
2.5.3.1.1 Cluster Analysis 69
2.5.3.1.2 Discriminant analysis 70
2.5.3.1.3 Principal component analysis 72
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 75
3.1 Introduction 77
3.2 Study Area 78
3.2.1 Sampling Area 78
3.3 Sample Collection and Preparation 80
3.3.1 In Situ Analysis. 80
3.4 Laboratory Analysis 82
3.4.1 COD testing 82
3.4.2 Heavy Metal Analysis 83
3.5 Environmetric analysis 88
3.5.1 Data Pre-treatment 88
3.5.2 Principal Component Analysis 89
3.5.3 HACA 89
3.5.4 Discriminant Analysis 90
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction 91
4.2 Descriptive Statistical Analysis of the Water Quality Data 91
4.2.1 Physico-chemical parameter of Kuantan River 92
4.2.2 Water Quality Index of Kuantan River 93
4.2.3 Heavy metal concentration in the Kuantan River 94
4.3 Spatial Classification of Water Pollution by Environmetric 104
technique
4.3.1 Correlation of the Water Parameters by PCA 105
4.3.2 Cluster analysis by HACA 112
4.3.3 Discrimination of Spatial Variation 116
4.3.4 Identification Source of Pollution 119
4.4 Water Quality Pollution Control and Prevention 127
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 132
5.1 Summary 132
5.2 Recommendation 134
REFERENCES 135

xi
APPENDICES 161
LIST OF PUBLICATION(S) 197
CANDIDATE BIODATA 198
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
NUMBER
TITLE PAGE
2.4 Water Quality Index Classification 61
2.5 WQI pollution level 61
2.6 INWQS class definition 63
3.1 Kuantan River sampling points 78
3.2 COD accuracy and recovery test 82
3.3
Recovery test for of metal using certified reference materials of
water sample
84
3.4 Recovery test for heavy metal using 10 μg/L of multi elements 85
3.5 Recovery test for heavy metal using 30 μg/L of multi elements 86
4.1
Descriptive statistics of physico-chemical parameter of Kuantan
River
96
4.2 Water Quality Index (WQI) of Kuantan River 2015 98
4.3 Water Quality Index (WQI) of Kuantan River 2005 99
4.4 Heavy metal concentration at Kuantan River 100
4.5 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy 104
4.6 Correlation matrices of the water quality parameters 109
4.7
Classification matrix for DA of spatial variations in Kuantan
River
117
4.8
Factor loading after Varimax rotation for Kuantan River water
quality
124

xii
LIST OF FIGURE
FIGURE
NUMBER
TITLE PAGE
2.1 Status of water quality of rivers in Malaysia 54
3.1 Flowchart of research 75
3.2 Map of land use along Kuantan River 77
3.3 Kuantan River sampling point 78
4.1 Cluster of data from Kuantan River by using PCA 108
4.2 Dendrogram of pollution cluster at Kuantan River. 114
4.3 Classification of water pollution status by HACA 115
4.4
The 2D line graph of selected parameter by spatial DA over
the acceptable limit of INWQS
118
4.5
Plot diagram of PCA loading after rotated for Clean area,
LPA, MPA, and HPA
126

xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AAS Atomic Absorption Spectrometry
ACS American Cancer Society
Al Aluminum
AN Ammoniacal Nitrogen
ANN Artificial Neural Network
APHA American Public Health Association
Ag Silver
As Arsenic
ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Be Beryllium
BOD Biochemical Oxygen Demand
EC Electrical Conductivity
CaCO3 Calcium Carbonate
CA Cluster Analysis
Cd Cadmium
CAWST Centre for affordable water sanitation and technology
COD Chemical Oxygen Demand
Co Cobalt
Cr Chromium
Cu Copper
DO Dissolved Oxygen

xiv
DA Discriminant Analysis
DOE Department of Environment
EPA Environment Protective Agency
EPAV Environment Protective Agency Victoria
EC Electric Conductivity
FEI Fondriest Environmental Incorporation
FAAS Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry
Fe Iron
GPS Global Positioning System
HACA Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster Analysis
Hg Mercury
HNO3 Nitric Acid
H2SO4 Sulfuric Acid
HPA High Pollution Area
ICP-MS Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometer
ICP-OES Inductively Coupled Optical Emission Spectrometer
INWQS Interim National Water Quality Standards
ISSF International Stainless Steel Forum
KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin
LPA Low Pollution Area
LVs Latent Variables
Mg Magnesium
Mn Manganese
MOHM Ministry of Health Malaysia
MPA Medium Pollution Area

xv
MPK Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan
NH4-N Ammonical nitrogen
NN Nitrogen Nitrate
Ni Nickel
NO3-N Nitrate nitrogen
Pb Lead
PCA Principal Component Analysis
PCs Principal Components
ppb Part per billion
ppm Part per million
Se Selenium
SEPA Scottish Environment Protection Agency
SRM Standard Raw Material
Sr Strontium
STHDA Statistical Tools for High-throughput Data Analysis
SVM Support Vector Machine
TDS Total Dissolved Solid
TDSHS Texas Department of State Health Services
Thallium Tl
UGA University of Georgia
UNCEF United Nations Children Fund
US-EPA United States-Environmental Protection Agency
USGS United State Geological Survey
V Vanadium
VFs Varimax Factors

xvi
WQI Water Quality Index
WOR World Ocean Review.
WQA Water Quality Association
WSDOH Washington State Department of Health
WHO World Health Organization
Zn Zinc

xvii
LIST OF SYMBOLS
μg/L microgram per Liter
°C Degree Celsius
μm micrometer
μS/cm micro Siemens per centimeter
% Per cent
kg Kilogram
L/kg liter per kilogram
L/day liter per day
mg/L milligram per liter
mm millimeter
NTU Nephelometric Turbidity Units

1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents a background, problem statement, objectives of study, research
question, scopes, limitation, significant and outline of the study for assessing the water
quality in the Kuantan river basin.
1.1 Background
River is a large natural movement of water that crosses an area of land and goes into
an ocean, a lake, etc. It provides water and food sources to human as well provide the
energy to move the machinery or equipment for hydroelectric power plant and
catchment areas. Geographically, the river has a complex system, comprises of soil,
plants, animals and network streams throughout the river corridor or terrain (Gao and
Song, 2005). It is an essential natural valuable water source and plays a crucial role in
human life, animals, plants and aquatic organisms every day. Human use it as a source
of drinking water, industrial, manufacturing, agricultures, etc. The river is a precious
treasure that must be well-maintained and protected so as not to be arbitrary exploited
by unscrupulous.

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Rivers provide the source of food since prehistoric eras and rich with other living
resources such as fish, shrimp, clams and crabs. Indirectly, the river functions to
supply water for agriculture and husbandry. The river can sustain the natural cycle of
the food chain and provides a major source of clean water. Therefore, it is not
surprising that most major cities and towns developed throughout the rivers coastal.
Unfortunately, nowadays river has been contaminated with pollutants whereby the
major contribution of river pollutions come from drainage and effluent systems from
urban, commercial and industrial sites (Chan et al., 2003). Most pollutants
contaminated into the rivers were chemicals, both organic and inorganic waste such as
drugs, explosives and heavy metals that toxic and harmful to the ecology system of
humans, plants and animals which can cause organism fatality, disability and
extinction (Oyekunle and Ekanade, 2010).
The water quality of the river was affected and influenced by changing of nutrients,
sedimentation, temperature, pH, heavy metals, non-metallic toxins, tenacious organics
and pesticides, biological factors, etc. (Carr et al., 2008). Consequently, the human
and natural activities can change the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics
of water and cause implications to human and ecosystem health. The uninhibited
pollutant with many mixtures of contaminant tend to accumulate in the water, thereby
triggering severe impact to ecosystem’s resilience, leading to dramatic and non-linear
changes that may be impossible to recover (Palaniappan et al., 2010).

3
Malaysia comprises of more than one million square kilometer of river basins and
plains with high potential for economic, social and cultural value (Kasan, 2006).
According to Azhar (2000), 98 % of the total water use originates from the rivers and
almost all of the investments in water related infrastructure in Malaysia depend on the
quality of river waters. However, in Malaysia, the number of polluted rivers are
increasing and the circumstance becoming worse swiftly. There are many rivers that
are classified as highly polluted whereby the water untreatable and inoperable. There
are 17 out of 186 river systems in Malaysia including Kuantan River have become so
toxic and the water was hazardous for human in year 2008 (Rahman et al., 2013). The
main causes of river pollution are usually due to lack of awareness, unconsciousness
and the attitude of people (Bao, 2010).
As a consequence, the water quality management in Malaysia is bound by the
Environmental Quality Act (EQA) (1974) on pollution using concentration based
Interim National Water Quality Standards (INWQS) for Malaysia (Rahman et al.,
2013). All pollutants discharged from industries are controlled by the EQA regulation
in accordance with the INWQS. Therefore, all wastewater treatment and industrial
discharge must comply with the limits according to the regulation in order to protect
the water quality of the river.

4
1.2 Problem Statement
Nowadays, water quality of rivers is one of the most challenging issues in Malaysia.
Concomitant with the rapid development, the publics and government are concerned
and thinking the best ways to protect the water quality of the river as a good natural
resource for the survival and health of human, flora and fauna. The rapid development
of urbanization, the opening of a new settlement, agriculture, industrial and mining
activities in the river vicinity will affect to the water quality of the river if their
activities not properly managed and controlled.
Kuantan area is a part of the urbanization process. Consequently, Kuantan River has
potential threatened with the pollutant because there is a lot of economic activity
such as rapid development and business activities at downstream or estuary
meanwhile peopling, bauxite mining, sand mining and agricultural activities nearby
the river area. Up to this date, varied levels of pollution, such as heavy metals in fish
samples in Malaysia were reported from various collection sites (Alina et al., 2012).
Findings from these studies are indicate that possibility of aquatic life in the Kuantan
River also can be polluted with the heavy metals, thereby can harm the community if
exposed it.
Furthermore, several studies demonstrate that surface water quality has severely
deteriorated in numerous countries over the past few decades because of poor land
use, which is indicated by a strong relationship between the declining water quality

5
and the increasing development of the catchment scale (Liu and Chan, 2014).
According to DOE, there are 52 river basins were polluted with suspended solid due
to improper planned and uncontrolled land clearing activities, 18 river basins had low
oxygen levels because of industrial discharges, and 33 river basins were polluted with
ammoniacal nitrogen from animal husbandry activities and domestic sewage disposal
(Ahmad, 2012). Therefore, Kuantan River has been selected for the study of water
quality as continuously monitoring due to the situation and expeditious development
or economic activities throughout the river as it is a tourist place and the water sources
for the communities.
In analysis, water quality index (WQI) provides a useful tool to indicate the pollution
level of water. However, WQI is calculated based on six selected water quality
variable parameters which more parameters as in INWQS should be included and
sometimes the pollution, classification is not equivalent to the pollution level thereby
tend to the misinterpretation in the water quality classification and status. Therefore,
environmetric can be considered as a useful tool for the large of variable data
parameters, thereby the best approach to overcome the problem and misinterpretation
(Juahir et al,2011).
1.3 Objective of the study
The goals of this study are to determine the current water quality level at Kuantan
River, to understand the current condition of the Kuantan River by thoroughly

6
analysing all the result of heavy metal concentration and in situ test, to spatial of the
water pollution area at the river and determine the causes of pollution in order to
recommend appropriate solutions to the problem. Therefore, there are several
objectives in order to achieve the goals such as:
1. To determine the water quality based classification on the multiple of
parameters in the surface water along the Kuantan River.
2. To identify the most significant parameters in discriminating the spatial pattern
of water quality in the study area.
3. To classify the source apportionment of the water pollution in the area.
1.4 Research Question
Based on the problem statement and objectives, there are several questions must be
answered in order to fulfil the objective of study such as:
1. What is the status of water quality in the Kuantan River ?
2. Are environmetric techniques effective to classify water pollution based on
variable parameters?
3. What are the source apportionment of the water pollution in the area?
4. Is the Kuantan River water quality status different from water quality in the
past decade?

7
1.5 Scopes of study
The study area is located at Kuantan River, Pahang, Malaysia. It covers analysis of the
surface water river quality of Kuantan River. The water quality parameters are based
on guidelines provided by Interim National Water Quality Standard for Malaysia
(INWQS). The parameters involved in this study are biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, total
suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solid (TDS). ammoniacal nitrogen (AN),
nitrate nitrogen (NN) and heavy metal such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt,
chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, selenium, silver, strontium,
thallium, vanadium and zinc. The parameters involved in-situ measurement such as
DO, pH, BOD, TSS, TDS, AN, NN, while the COD and heavy metal parameters were
tested in the laboratory and analysis through the environmetric technique. Based on
the water quality profile of Kuantan River, classification of the level of pollution of
the river and identifying types of pollution exists in the river could be established.
This scope of study, describes an analysis which was carried out to determine the
factors contributing to the pollution of the Kuantan River in order to save our mother
nature from further deterioration.
1.6 Significant of Study

8
This study will be a baseline data on the water quality and can be a reference source to
compare the impacts of future construction and development at the river vicinity. This
data will help us to know the trend of water quality effect of the development and
economic activities throughout the river and crucial to assist in planning on the
pollutant prevention methods for protecting and save the ecology and environment
ecosystem of the river.
Therefore, this study has been conducted to ensure that river water quality can be
identified efficiently through the environmetric techniques. The environmetric
technique has been proven to be a useful tool for source identification of water
pollution. These techniques permit identification of the possible sources that are
responsible for the variations in water quality parameters and influence the condition,
thus offers priceless tool for developing suitable strategies for effective management
of the water quality monitoring network.
1.7 Thesis outline
The study comprises of five chapters and structured as follows:
Chapter one consists of introduction of the study, problem statement of the research,
objective of the research and research question in order to answer the objectives that
had been stated in this research. Besides, the scope of the study also had been
described to focus on the selected parameters and significance of the research to
government, community, and companies.

9
Chapter two provides the literature review related to the water quality, physical and
chemical characteristics of water, sources of the water pollution, types of pollution in
water their health effects to human and water quality index. It also included the
information on the model application and the best approach in the water quality
assessment as well as equipment application in the water quality testing.
Chapter three provides a brief description of the methodology, including the study
area, lab analysis, and data analysis as well as modelling techniques to answer all the
objectives and research question of the study.
Chapter four presents and discusses the research findings and answers all the
objectives and research questions. The result of this study was performed using
various methods for descriptive analysis, and environmetric analysis. Descriptive
analysis was applied in order to identify and compare the concentration of physical
and chemical characteristics of surface river water with an acceptable limit of
INWQS. Environmetric techniques were utilized in this chapter to cluster the water
quality based on the similarity using HACA, PCA and DA, to identify the most
significant variables using DA and identify sources of variation through rotating PCA
data.

10
Chapter five provides a concise statement about the main purpose of the research, the
period of the research, the research method used, the research instrument, the
sampling design and the research findings. These chapters also discuss about the
impact of this study for the future research and recommend another appropriate topic
which is relevant to the current situation that can be further investigated thoroughly by
the future researchers.
Conclusion
This research is about an application of the environmetric technique in the water
quality assessment. There are five chapters which consist of introduction, literature
review, methodology, result and discussion and conclusion. Therefore, 134 the total of
pages by using US English for covering the chapters in this thesis.

11
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
Water is a chemical amalgamation between hydrogen and oxygen to form the
chemical structure H2O and presents about 71 % covering of the Earth's surface
(Khyade and Swaminathan, 2016). It exists ubiquitously such as in the air or clouds,
on the surface of the earth, such as rivers, oceans, ice, plants, in living organisms, and
in the ground (Virginia et al., 2013). It is estimated that 96.5 % of the water is in the
oceans, 1.7 % are in the groundwater, and 1.7 % in glaciers, including ice caps in the
Arctic and Antarctic area which less than 0.3 % of fresh water is contained in rivers,
lakes and the atmosphere (Khatri and Tyagi, 2015).
Water is important to sustain ecology system of environment and the most living
organisms and species cannot survive without water (Bao, 2010). Thus, the rivers are
the main source of water for human being and almost 60 % of the main rivers,

12
particularly in Malaysia become the main source of water supply for domestic,
agricultural and industrial use (Kasim et al., 2015). Naturally, river water containing
many dissolved substances and non-dissolved particulate matter such as dissolved
salts and water minerals that necessary components of good quality water as the river
help to maintain the health and vitality of the organisms that rely on this ecosystem
service (Carr et al., 2008). Nevertheless, numerous factors such as population growth,
industrial activities, rapid urbanization, depletion of aquifers, climate change, several
anthropogenic activities, and geogenic activities give impact on the water quality
(Sharma, 2015).
Normally, the water quality refers to the chemical, physical, biological, and
radiological characteristics of water (Diersing, Nancy, 2009). It is a measure of the
circumstances of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and
or to any human which need to monitor and measure continuously in order to keep the
safe and healthy environment (Boah et al.,2015).
2.2 Water Quality
Water quality is the totality of physical, biological and chemical parameters that affect
the growth and welfare of cultured organisms (Mallya, 2007). The water quality can
be determined based on the water quality index (WQI) which depends on the six
independent chemical parameters such as dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen
demand, chemical oxygen demand, acidity, ammoniacal nitrogen and total suspended

13
solids (Juahir et al., 2011). Particularly, water quality is affected by a wide range of
natural and human influences. These factors will control the water composition such
as organic substance and heavy metal elements that functioning as mineral and
nutrient for animals and plants in the acceptable limit (Canty et al., 2011). According
to Daren et al. 2013, the most important of the natural influences are geological,
hydrological and climatic whereby these able to affect the quantity and influence the
quality of water. It becomes worse after the comprehensive development, especially in
urban areas due to the alterations of natural processes, environmental quality and
natural resource consumption (Mgrane, 2016). The other factor affects the water
quality is physical parameters such as temperature, color, the amount of suspended
solids, turbidity, total dissolved solids, salinity, smell and taste (Hua, 2015).
2.2.1 Dissolve oxygen
Dissolve oxygen (DO) is one critical environmental parameter that determines the
river water polluted or not (Shultz et al., 2011). DO exhibited strong diurnal
fluctuations due to the plant photosynthesis and respiration processes of bacteria,
fungi, and animals in the water (Cornell et al., 2008). The concentration of DO plays
an essential role in biogeochemical cycling and the evolution of ecosystem structure
and function and is also a sensitive indicator of physical and biogeochemical changes
in aquatic ecosystems (Zhang et al., 2015). In rivers, the concentration of DO is a sum
of processes that include reaeration, transport, photosynthesis, respiration,
nitrification, and decay of organic matter (Sullivan et al., 2010). Typically, the require
concentration of DO is 7.0 mg/L and above for providing the optimum ecosystem

14
function to keep organisms alive (Maarof and Hua, 2015). Meanwhile, according to
Abowei (2010), plants and atmosphere are the main source of oxygen and determined
that high DO indicated the river water is not polluted meanwhile DO depletion below
to the minimum requirement is categorized as polluted water. DO depletion could
consequent death of fish, disrupt feeding or affect embryonic development and
hatching success due to oxygen starvation and suppress respiration (Rajan, 2015). The
DO concentration level can vary according to a number of factors, including season,
time of day, temperature, and salinity of the water (USEPA, 2006a).
2.2.2 Biological Oxygen Demand
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a measure the amount of oxygen consumed by
microorganisms in natural decomposing organic matter in the river water (Maarof and
Hua, 2015). It includes measuring the chemical oxidation of inorganic matter such as
the extraction of oxygen from water through the chemical reaction (UGA, 2013).
Referring to the Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia, the clean level of BOD
value in the river water is must less than 1 mg /L. BOD also measures the amount of
food for bacteria found in water and the tests can screen the present of biodegradation
waste in the water (Hua, 2015). BOD directly affects the amount of dissolved oxygen
in rivers and streams. The higher BOD, the more rapidly oxygen is depleted in the
river and indicated that less oxygen is available to higher forms of aquatic life
whereby its consequences similar as impact of low DO such as aquatic organisms
become stressed, suffocate, and die (Bhateria and Jain, 2016). According to him,
sources of BOD include leaves and woody debris, dead plants and animals, animal

15
manure, effluents from pulp and paper mills, wastewater treatment plants, feedlots,
and food- processing plants, failing septic systems and urban storm water run-off. The
BOD test is also known as "BOD5" since it is based on the accurate measure of DO at
the beginning and end of a five-day period in which the sample is held in dark,
incubated conditions (UGA, 2013). Determination of 5 days’ BOD5 is the most
commonly practiced tests to assess the water quality of surface and waste water.
Nevertheless, BOD5 is not a good parameter for the control of water or wastewater
treatment processes because of its require long test period and need a real-time water
quality monitoring system whereby a rapid feedback is necessary (Kwak et al., 2013).
Due to better signal detection sensitivity by using the modern equipment in
comparison to conventional 5-day BOD laboratory techniques, the modern equipment
provides faster BOD result in the real time reporting of BOD equivalence for process
control, which is not attainable with preceding techniques (Modernwater, 2013). From
a technical point of view, the latest advances show that the “measurement” aspect of
biological signals is the fastest, reliable and robust which provides the BOD5 of a
sample in only 70 seconds instead of 5 days (Jouanneau, et al., 2013).
2.2.3 Chemical Oxygen Demand
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is a test to measure the amount of oxidized organic
and inorganic compounds in the water (Hua, 2015). The COD is defined as the
number of oxygen equivalents consumed in the oxidation of organic compounds by
strong oxidizing agents, such as dichromate and permanganates, and is indicative of
the amount of organic pollutants present in the water (Yao et al., 2014). Usually, it is

16
used to determine the chemical pollution level in the water that generated by the
human activities (Maarof and Hua, 2015). The higher concentration value of COD
indicated that the presence of organic matter increased in river water and it’s
influenced by the velocity of the river current and rain intensity (Din et al., 2012). The
recommended raw water acceptable limit of COD from Ministry of Health Malaysia
(MOHM) for raw water is less than 10 mg/L.
2.2.4 Acidity and Alkalinity
Alkalinity or acidity (pH) is an important parameter for determining acid or alkalinity
of the content of minerals and organic matter by measuring the concentration of
hydrogen ions present in the water (Perlman, 2016). According to them, the pH is
measured from 0 to 14 which the pH less than 7 indicate the river water is acidic and
above 7 is alkaline. Meanwhile, pH 7 indicates the water in neutral conditions. A very
high pH value in water is able to consequent the concentration of ammonia increases,
thereby this situation can lead to poison or toxic in the water meanwhile the very low
pH values such as less than 4 can produce acidity in the water simultaneously
consequent the death of aquatic life, erosion of stone and metal in the river water
(USEPA, 2009). It demonstrates the aquatic organisms are very sensitive to changes
of pH and most of them can survive well in the range of 6.0 - 8.5 (Ahmad et al.,
2015).
2.2.5 Ammoniacal Nitrogen

17
Ammoniacal Nitrogen (AN) is an analysis for detecting the ammonia (NH3)
contamination in the water (Din et al, 2015). Ammonia is a compound consists of
nitrogenous organic substance which usually produces unionized ammonia when the
degradation process incurred and becomes toxic to aquatic life when dissolved in
water (Maarof and Hua, 2015). This situation can be attributed by the amount of faces
from the animals, wastewater from residential and the use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides used in agricultural areas that often flow and mixed into the river (Nayan et
al., 2009). According to Maarof and Hua (2015), the AN limit of aquatic life is should
be not more than 0.02 mg /L.
2.2.6 Nitrate Nitrogen
The term "nitrate nitrogen (NN)" is used to refer to the nitrogen present, which is
combined in the nitrate ion. This nomenclature is used to differentiate between nitrate
nitrogen from nitrogen in the form of ammonia nitrogen and from nitrogen in the form
of nitrite nitrogen (APEC, 2016). Accordingly, the concentrations are usually
expressed in milligrams per litre of nitrogen. Nitrates occur naturally in soil or water
and as a nutrient for the plants. Nonetheless, the application of fertilizer, pesticide or
poor sanitary activities consequence excessive the nitrate content in the water (Kazmi
and Khan, 2005). It is also used as an oxidizing agent and in the production of
explosives, additive in the production of glass and preservative for food. Nitrate can
contaminate both surface water and groundwater as a consequence of those activities,
from wastewater treatment and from oxidation of nitrogenous waste products in

18
human and animal excretion, including septic tanks (WHO, 2011a). According
to Kazmi and Khan (2005), the exposure to high level of nitrate potential can cause
cancer, methemoglobinemia or ‘blue baby syndrome’ among infants, recurrent
diarrhoea and also other illnesses.
2.2.7 Total Suspended Solids
Total suspended solids (TSS) are particles that are larger than 2 microns suspended in
the water river meanwhile any particle smaller than 2 microns is considered a
dissolved solid and its concentration influenced by natural causes such as algae,
sediments, salt and plankton in the water and decomposing of animals, plants,
inorganic and organic materials (USEPA, 2012). According to Hua (2015), TSS is a
measurement of particles larger than 0.45 microns and the most contaminants such as
toxic heavy metals also can contribute the TSS concentration increase that can harm
habitat and aquatic life. High concentration of TSS will block sunlight to penetrate
into the body of water and affect the water clarity, thereby prevent the photosynthesis
of plants in the water and can kill aquatic life due to depletion of oxygen (Murphy,
2007). The TSS concentration less than 20 mg/L indicates the water is clear and the
water with TSS levels between 40 and 80 mg/L tends to appear cloudy, while water
with concentrations over 150 mg/L usually appears dirty (Anyanwu and Nwigwe
2015).
2.2.8 Total Dissolve Solid

19
Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) or filterable matter is a measure of the total
concentration of dissolved matter in the water that includes all inorganic and organic
dissociated anions and cations as well as undissociated dissolved species (Hubert and
Wolkersdorfer, 2015). TDS can include organic solutes such as hydrocarbons and urea
in addition to the salt ions (FEI, 2014). The presence of synthetic organic chemicals
such as fuel, detergents, paints and solvents in the water, giving an unpleasant
situation and hurtful to taste, smell and colour, thereby disrupt the fish and aquatic
plant life even in a low concentration (Hua, 2015). The recommended acceptable limit
of TDS from MOHM for raw water is below 1500 mg/L.
2.2.9 Salinity
Salinity is a measure of the content of salts in soil or water and commonly measured
in parts per thousand (ppt). It is an important measurement in coastal research because
changes in river discharge and wind speed able to control the salinity level at the coast
thenceforth by understanding salinity we can better understand the coastal ocean
density and circulation patterns (Lentz, 2010). Salinity has been scrutinized as one of
the most significant variable parameters for influencing the organism’s life in the
estuaries (Perlman, 2016). Salinity measurements may also offer clues about estuary
areas that could become affected by salinity-specific diseases (USEPA, 2006b).
Salinity is significant in particular as it affects DO solubility, which higher level of
salinity cause the lower of DO concentration (FEI, 2014). Therefore, the dam is
facilitated to prevent the intrusion of seawater into the fresh water, thereby can control
the salinity (Onder and Ilmaz, 2005). It plays an effective role in the proper utilization

20
of water resources, particularly groundwater, with control undesired fluctuations of
water level. For example, it can avoid the variety of the groundwater level in areas
normally subjected to change in water region, especially near lakes or rivers. This is
quite helpful in avoiding saltwater intrusion throughout coastlines, which it can
contaminate the fresh water (Ahmed et al., 2016). According to FEI (2014), oxygen is
about 20 % less soluble in seawater than freshwater at the same temperature and it
indicated that the seawater has a lower DO concentration than fresh water sources.
There are ranges of salinity level in the water, such as 0.05 ppt for freshwater, 0.5 -17
ppt for brackish, 16ppt for black sea and 32 -37ppt for the ocean.
2.2.10 Turbidity
Turbidity is a key parameter in testing water quality in physical properties by
measuring the rate of fluid cloudiness or turbidness caused by the number of particles
or individual particles which cannot be seen with the naked eye (Rahmanian et al.,
2015). It is an optical characteristic of water and it is an expression of the amount of
light that is scattered by material in the water when a light is shined through the water
(Perlman, 2016). Turbidity is usually measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units
(NTU) and the result affected by the presence of suspended and colloidal materials
such as clay, silts, plankton, finely divided organic and inorganic matter and other
microscopic organisms (Wilson, 2013). The higher intensity of scattered light causes
the higher of turbidity. Consequently, high particle concentrations of turbidity can
jeopardize the fish habitat and other aquatic organisms (Omar and Jafri, 2009). The
recommended acceptable value from MOHM for turbidity is below 1000 NTU.

21
2.2.11 Temperature
The water temperature is a measure of heat content of the water mass and influence
the growth rate and survival rate of aquatic life (Ridanovic et al., 2010). The
temperature influences several other parameters and can alter the physical and
chemical properties of water, which in this regard, water temperature should be
accounted when determining the metabolic rates and photosynthesis production
compound toxicity, DO and other dissolved gas concentrations, conductivity and
salinity, oxidation reduction potential (ORP), pH and water density (FEI, 2014).
Different species of fish have different requirements for optimal temperature
resistance and limits of temperature extreme (Hoffmann et al., 2013). Many biological
and physical-chemical streams are affected by temperature, thereby most aquatic
animals and plants remain in a given water temperature range, and only a few may be
accepted and tolerated extreme changes in temperature, which adversely effect on
aquatic ecosystems especially in lessening wildlife populations and habitat destruction
(Bobat, 2015). The factors affecting the water temperature are seasonal climates,
sources of water, water volume, flow, regional, river deep, turbidity, industrial
discharge, global warming, etc. (Dallas, 2008).
2.2.12 Colour

22
Colour in the water may result from a variety of sources including natural metallic
ions such as iron, humus and peat materials, plankton, weeds, and industrial wastes
(Wilson, 2013). According to him, the metallic ions such as iron and manganese
typically impart a reddish-brown colour to water meanwhile tannins and dissolved
organic carbon, a by-product of the degradation of plants and other organisms, usually
impart a brown to black colour to water. In addition, some living plants such as
Parrotfeather or Myriophyllum aquaticum also release coloured organic compounds
into the water column and blocking the sunlight penetration to the bottom of the water
(Lamanche, 2007). Highly coloured water has significant effects on aquatic plants and
algal growth due to less of DO concentration cause drastically reduces all life which
could lead to the long term disruption of the ecosystem in the water body (Perlman,
2016). The unit of colour measurement is a true colour unit (TCU) and the
recommended acceptable limit from MOHM for the raw water quality is below1000
TCU.
2.2.13 Microbial
Total and fecal Coliforms species are used to indicate the presence of pathogenic
organisms in water. Usually, Coliforms are the best samples to use for determining the
biological parameters since Coliform bacteria found naturally in the environment and
all warm-blooded animal faces as well human beings (Treyens, 2009). However, total
Coliforms have been found to not be useful for testing, recreational or shell fishing
waters due to some species in the group are naturally present in soils or plant
materials, so their presence does not reliably indicate fecal contamination.

23
Nonetheless, it is useful for testing treated drinking water where contamination of soil
or plant material would be a concern (Meals et al., 2013). Coliform bacteria do not
cause extreme illness. However, the presence of these bacteria, especially in drinking
water indicates that disease causing organisms to be pathogens when be living in the
water system (WSDOH, 2011). Most of the presence of this pathogen is caused by a
contaminated water supply which comes from human or animal faces (Cabral, 2010).
The coliform bacteria must not be detectable in any 100 mL of all water intended for
drinking that mean total coliforms concentration was 1835 cfc/100 mL while the fecal
coliform was 1154 cfc per 100 mL of water (Boateng and Aboagye, 2013).
2.2.14 Hardness
Hardness is a measure of alkaline earth elements such as calcium and magnesium in
the water which it is important to aquatic life, especially fish for metabolic reactions
such as bone and scale formation (Stevens, 2009). Total hardness is the sum of
divalent ion concentrations, especially those of calcium and magnesium, and always
to compare with the alkalinity values of a water sample, with both expressed in terms
of mg /L of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) (Seyrig and Shan, 2007). Calcium carbonate
hardness is a general term that indicates the total quantity of divalent salts subsist and
does not specifically identify either calcium, and magnesium or some other divalent
salt consequence the water hardness (Wurtzs et al., 1992). The most abundant divalent
cations in natural waters are calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+). Meanwhile,
certain waters contain small amounts of strontium (Sr2+), and water has DO level less
than 1.0 mg/L or highly acidic water may contain measurable concentrations of
ferrous iron (Fe2+) and manganese (Mn2+) (Boyd et al., 2016). Usually, surface waters
contain less hardness than groundwater. The hardness of water reflects the geology of

24
its source. Carbonates in surface soils and sediments increase the hardness of surface
waters, and subsurface limestone formations also increase the hardness of ground
waters (Sengupta, 2013). High water hardness gives problem, especially in the laundry
activities because the minerals in the water interfere with the cleaning action of soaps
and detergents thereby disturb the efficiency of soap (Abeliotis et al., 2014).
Medically, hard water has no known adverse health effect; in fact, it could provide an
important supplementary contribution to total calcium and magnesium intake. The
health effects of hard water are mainly due to the effects of the salts dissolved in it,
primarily calcium and magnesium. The optimum range of hardness in drinking water
is from 80 to 100 mg/L. Water with hardness greater than 200 mg/L is considered
poor in most regions of the province and water with hardness greater than 500 mg/L is
normally considered unacceptable for the domestic purposes WHO, 2011b).
2.2.14 Conductivity
Conductivity is the ability of a solution to pass an electric current and also known as
electrical conductivity (EC). It always used in the characterization of water purity with
measure how much the material is dissolved in the water and to measure the efficiency
of water treatment systems of a water solution and it is a quick and easy way to
estimate the amount of TDS in natural waters (Mettler Toledo, 2005). Electrical
conductivity cannot be measured directly, but it is calculated from the measurement of
the resistance of an electrolyte where the conductivity and resistance are contrariwise
related (Yaacob and Shamdeen, 2011). The conductivity is not a direct pollution
parameter. It helps to give an idea about the mineralization of water. For instance,

25
ground water has high mineral due to perfect entrapment as well as recharge of
solubilisation of minerals from soils which higher mineral may impart a bad taste as
drinkable water (Paul and Sen, 2012). Normally, conductivity in the water was
affected by the inorganic dissolved solids such as calcium, chloride, aluminium
cations, nitrate, sulphate, iron, magnesium, and sodium including organic compounds
such as oil, alcohol, phenol, and sugar. Generally, most of the freshwaters
conductivity is ranging from 10 - 1000 𝜇S/cm and the concentration exceed about
1000 𝜇S/cm into the water may receiving pollution (Al-Badaii et al., 2013).
Conductivity is useful as a general measure of water quality. Each water body, tends
to have a relatively constant range of conductivity that, once established, can be used
as a baseline for comparison with regular conductivity measurements. Significant
changes in conductivity could then be an indicator that a discharge or some other
source of pollution has entered the aquatic resource (USEPA, 2015a).

26
2.3 Water pollution and health effects
Nowadays, water pollution is a word commonly can be heard every day in the news,
school and conversation. Water is considered polluted if some substances or condition
is present to such a degree that the water cannot be used for a specific purpose, such as
not suitable for drinking, bathing, cooking or other uses (Owa, 2014). The main
sources of water pollution can be categorized into point source and nonpoint source
(EPAV, 2012). Point source pollution refers the emission sources or waste materials
from pipes or drains directly into the water body at a specific location, for instance
emissions from industry, sewage treatment plants and livestock farms
(Kamarudzaman et al., 2011). Meanwhile, Non-point sources of pollution are often
termed ‘diffuse’ pollution and refer to those inputs and impacts which occur over a
wide area and do not easily attribute to a single source (Holden, 2014). They are often
associated with particular land uses, as opposed to individual point source discharges.
In other words, most of the pollution is caused by human activity, while others are
caused by landslides and the region of urban environment (Afroz et al., 2014). In

27
additional, the main cause of non-point pollution is complicated to trace due to the
run-off water of pollutant in surface area absorbed into the ground water and run-off
into river especially during the rain seasons ((Maarof and Hua, 2015). According to
Owa (2014), the pollution is created by industrial and commercial waste, agricultural
practices, human activities and modes of transportation, thenceforth the water
contaminated with a lot type of pollutant such as heavy metal, pathogenic microbes,
radioactive, organic and inorganic substances, etc.
2.3.1 Organic pollutant
The organic pollutants consist of carbon-based materials. It can be degraded quickly,
have the potential to cause a lack of oxygen in water bodies and can be expressed in
BOD and COD concentration level (Zheng et al., 2013). Hence, BOD and COD was
the most commonly detected parameter for determining the quality of water,
especially for monitoring and controlling the pollution (Alam, 2015). Major organic
components of municipal wastewater are consisting of 40 - 60 % of proteins, 25 -
50 % of carbohydrates and 10 % of fatty compounds such as fats, oils, and grease
(Kouloumpos et al., 2009). Higher organic matter content in the dumpsite may be
affected by the decomposition and composting processes of the animal’s waste which
include organic fertilizer, carcass, plants or vegetable matter and polymer or plastic
materials whereby from the municipal solid waste dump and also washed away
agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, insecticides and herbicides that passed
through the dump site before entering the main river ether from the farms or town

28
(Yahaya et al., 2009). Organic pollution affects the organisms living in a stream by
lowering the available oxygen in the water. Consequently, it reduces their fitness and
lead to asphyxiation (Lenntech, 2015). According to Said and Hamed (2006),
persistent organic pollutant (POP) such as chlorinated pesticides and petroleum
hydrocarbons existed in the water caused by the municipal wastes, industry activities,
anthropogenic and agricultural applications. The repeated exposure can have an
extremely adverse effect on human health such as liver damage, uterine occlusions,
stenos and tumours, resulting in reduced reproductive ability, colonic ulcers, reduced
bone density, which lead to changes in the skeletal system and found indications that
POPs depress the immune and endocrine systems and may also be carcinogenic
(WOR, 2010).
2.3.2 Inorganic Pollutant
Inorganic pollutants are those contaminant compounds that do not contain carbon
element, include the toxic heavy metal, radioactive element as well the toxic soluble
salt whereby it incurs naturally and mostly caused by the human activities (Lal, 2006).
Sand, silt, and clay are the basic components of the suspended inorganic matter. It is
dissolved inorganic matter in wastewater consists of salts such as calcium,
magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, and manganese salts of carbonate, bicarbonate,
chloride, sulphate, nitrate, and phosphate as well as simple compounds of nitrogen
(N), phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) like ammonia, hydrogen sulphide (Kouloumpos
et al, 2009). According to them, toxic inorganic chemicals in municipal wastewater
include heavy metals, as well as other compounds, like cyanides and asbestos or
nanoparticles. The cyanide salts are mainly used in electroplating, metallurgy, the
production of organic chemicals, photographic development, the extraction of gold

29
and silver from ores, tanning leather and in the making of plastics and fibre which the
exposures can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, headache, pounding of the
heart, shortness of breath, harm to the central nervous system, the respiratory system,
and the cardiovascular system, and quickly leads to death (NPI, 2015). Inorganic
contaminants are the most important determinants of acceptability to the consumer
due to its affects taste, pH, conductivity and colour (WHO, 2011c). According to Lal
(2006), the salts always present in soil and not constitute the environmental problem
provided at low concentration. On the other hand, it becomes nutrient to the aquatic
life.
2.3.3 Heavy Metal Pollutants
The term “heavy metals” refers to any metallic element that has a relatively high
density and toxic or poisonous even though at low concentration (Duruibe et al.,
2007). Heavy metals are a general collective term which applies to the group of metals
and metalloids with atomic density greater than 4 g/cm 3 or 5 times or more and
greater than water (Yahaya et al., 2009). Heavy metals are natural components of the
earth’s crust and usually exist in soil and rock whereby it cannot be degraded or
destroyed (Tchounwou et al., 2014). Some heavy metals are also known as ‘trace
elements’ such copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn)
which essential to maintain the body metabolism, however, can be toxic at
concentrations beyond those necessary for their biological functions (Fraga 2005;
Iwuoha, et al., 2013). Gradually, the heavy metals can enter the bodies to a small

30
extent via food, drinking water and air. However, the metal such as arsenic (As), lead
(Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and thallium (Tl), is toxic
although at low quantity (Govind and Madhuri, 2014). Although heavy metals are
naturally occurring elements, mostly environmental pollution resulted from
anthropogenic activities such as mining, industrial wastes, vehicle emissions, lead-
acid batteries, fertilizers, paints and treated woods (Srujani, 2014). The high
concentrations of toxic metal tendency to accumulate in the tissue flora and fauna that
live in aquatic whereby heavy metal such as zinc, lead, copper, chromium, cadmium
and nickel commonly found in surface water especially the river nearby with the
industrial area (Taghipour et al., 2012). According to Ipeaiyeda et al. (2012), heavy
metal can load from smelting activities near water bodies has been proved to result in
contamination of rivers and has various implications on the ecosystem. It can also
have caused by the metal corrosion, atmospheric deposition, soil erosion of metal ions
and leaching of heavy metals, sediment re-suspension and metal evaporation from
water resources to soil and ground water as well as natural phenomena such as
weathering and volcanic eruptions have also been reported to significantly contribute
to heavy metal pollution (Tchounwou et al., 2014). Although heavy metals do not
remain in water for long, it becomes polluted if their levels exceed the recommended
levels by both local and international bodies, particularly in water catchment areas
(Mutembei et al., 2014). Therefore, contamination of the environment by heavy
metals is viewed as an international problem because of the effects on the ecosystem
in most countries (Yahaya et al., 2009). According to Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), there are various types of metal contaminants such as arsenic,
antimony, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, iron, manganese,
magnesium, radium, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium and zinc whereby present in

31
surface water, groundwater, soil, storage tanks, lagoons, industrial gaseous emissions
and industrial waste are priority pollutant (Osman et al., 2015a).
2.3.3.1 Lead
Lead (Pb) is a heavy metal with a bluish-grey colour and naturally exists in lead ores
which comprises 0.002 % of the earth’s crust including galena (lead sulphide),
anglesite (lead sulphate), cerussite (lead carbonate), mimetite (lead chloroarsenate)
and pyromorphite (lead chlorophosphate). It has a low melting point, is easily
moulded and shaped, and can be combined with other metals to form alloys (WHO,
2010). Pb widely used in industries such as paint, gasoline, pipes, cosmetics, toys,
furniture, jewellery and other product (USEPA, 2015b). Generally, Pb dissolved or
suspended in wastewater mostly stems from streets, pipes and soils (Shafii, 2008). Pb
can be ingested by the people after it pollutes the foodstuffs, consequently the lead can
be contaminated with people’s blood (Tong et al., 2000). The Pb exposure can cause
serious health problems such as chronic kidney disease, hypertension, behavioural
changes or neurological complications, elevated lead levels during pregnancy increase
the risk for miscarriage in pregnant women (Matthias et al., 2007). Pb has long been
recognized as a harmful environmental pollutant. In late 1991, the Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services called Pb that is the number one
environmental threat to the health of children in the United States (Islam et al., 2011).
According to Michael (2006), Pb can be absorbed into animals, mainly via the
gastrointestinal tract or the respiratory tract and skin. Furthermore, Pb initially
attaches to red blood cells and is eventually accumulated and concentrated in the

32
bones, blood, brain, kidneys, and liver. It stays in the blood for several months, and
can be stored in the bones and teeth for decades. Consequently, Pb poisoning can
cause permanent damage to the brain and nervous system, digestive organs, kidneys,
heart and reproductive organs (Wani et al., 2015). The recommended acceptable limit
from MOHM for Pb in the raw water quality is below 0.05 mg/ L.
2.3.3.2 Aluminium
Aluminium (Al) is a silvery-white metal with many valuable properties. It is light with
density 2.70 g/cm, non-toxic, and can be easily machined or cast. It is the most
abundant metal and the third most abundant element in the earth's crust, which
consists about 8 % by weight of the earth’s solid surface and usually found in
combination over 270 different of other minerals such as bauxite, a mixture of
hydrated aluminium oxide and hydrated iron oxide (Shakhashiri, 2008). Al is used in a
huge variety of products including cans, foils, kitchen utensils, window frames, beer
kegs and airplane parts (Whitall et al., 2016). Al naturally present in waters in very
low concentrations. However, higher concentrations derived from mining waste may
negatively affect aquatic ecosystem (Lenntech, 2015). For instance, the level
contamination, also affected by the usage of aluminium sulphate as a coagulant in the
water treatment in order to improve clarity (Yonge, 2011). Al exposure can
accumulate in the kidneys, brain, lungs, liver and thyroid where it competes with
calcium for absorption as well as can affect skeletal mineralization, can slow the
growth of infant and lead to mental disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

33
(Edward, 2013). The recommended acceptable limit from MOHM for Al is below 0.2
mg/L for drinking water.
2.3.3.3 Arsenic
Arsenic (As) is a natural component of the earth’s crust and is widely distributed
throughout into the air, water and land. It is highly toxic in its inorganic form
(Palihawadana, 2015). Although it is sometimes found in its pure form as a steel gray
metal, arsenic is usually part of chemical compounds and exists in organic and organic
compound (ACS, 2014). Naturally, As can react with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur to
form inorganic As compounds meanwhile As in animals and plants combines with
carbon and hydrogen to form organic As compounds (ATSDR, 2007). As pollution
occurs as a result of natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and soil erosion,
and anthropogenic activities such as manufacturing and agriculture, which the product
like insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, Algaecides, sheep dips, wood preservatives,
and dyestuffs containing arsenic as an ingredient (Tchounwou et al., 2014). As
contaminated with water that's used for drinking, food preparation and irrigation of
food crops creates the greatest risk to the public health (Jiang et al., 2013). The acute
symptoms of arsenic poisoning include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and
followed by numbness and tingling of the extremities, muscle cramping and death.
Meanwhile, the long-term exposure of As can cause chronic effect such as cancer and
skin lesions as well also often associated with developmental effects, cardiovascular
disease, neurotoxicity and diabetes (WHO, 2015).

34
2.3.3.4 Cadmium
Cadmium (Cd) is naturally occurring in the earth’s crust and it is a toxic silvery metal
with a bluish tinge to its surface (Bhavani and Sujatha, 2014). It is usually found in
low concentration as a mineral combined with other elements such as oxygen,
chlorine, sulfur and all soils and rocks including coal and mineral fertilizers (ATSDR,
2011a). Cd is frequently used in various industrial activities include the production of
alloys, pigments, and batteries (Tchounwou et al., 2014). However, Cd can pollute the
aquatic systems through weathering and soils erosion and bedrock, atmospheric
decomposition of direct discharges from industrial operations, leakage from landfills
and contaminated places and the arbitrary use of sludge, fertilizers in agriculture and
flooding (Amankon, 2010). In addition, smelting or mining or some other processes
can release Cd compounds into the atmosphere with respirable-sized airborne particles
and it can be suspended in long distances, thereby deposited onto the earth below by
rain or falling out of the air thenceforth the Cd run-off easily through soil layers into
the river and also taken up into the food chain by uptake by plants such as leafy
vegetables, root crops, cereals and grains (ATSDR, 2013). The major sources of Cd in
drinking water are corrosion of galvanized pipes, erosion of natural deposits,
discharge from metal refineries, runoff from waste batteries and paints (WQA, 2013).
Consequently, Cd may cause health problems such as kidney problem, disease related
with renal cortex, pulmonary, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal system, including
human carcinogen if it presents in water supplies in amounts greater than the
acceptable level of drinking water standard (Roberts, 2014). The acceptable limit of
Cd from MOHM for drinking water is below 0.003 mg/L.

35
2.3.3.5 Iron
Iron (Fe) is a shiny, bright white metal that is soft, malleable, ductile and strong. Its
surface is usually discolored by corrosion when it exposed to the oxygen of the air in
the presence of moisture (Calvert, 2003). It exists naturally as a mineral from
sediment and rocks or from mining, industrial waste, and corroding metal (USGS,
2015). Fe is chemically active and forms two major series of chemical compounds, the
bivalent iron (II), or ferrous, compounds and the trivalent iron (III), or ferric,
compounds (Jaafar, 2010). Fe is used as construction material, drinking-water pipes,
used as pigments in paints and plastics including food coloring, treatment of Fe
deficiency in humans and as coagulants in water treatment (WHO, 2003a). According
to the WHO, Fe has an essential element in human nutrition, algae, animal and other
organism. In humans, estimates of the minimum daily requirement for Fe depend on
age, sex, physiological status, and iron bioavailability and range from about 10 to 50
mg/day. Nonetheless, the average lethal dose of Fe is 200–250 mg/kg of body weight,
but death has occurred following the ingestion of doses as low as 40 mg/kg of body
weight. The ingestion of Fe pollutant may cause the people exposed to conjunctivitis,
choroiditis, retinitis (Jaafar, 2010), diseases of aging such as Alzheimer’s disease,
other neurodegenerative diseases, arteriosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus (Brewer,
2009). In addition, excess Fe in drinking water can produce an unpleasant taste and
brownish color (USGS, 2015).

36
2.3.3.6 Nickel
Nickel (Ni) is a naturally occurring, lustrous, silvery-white metallic element and the
fifth most common element on earth and occurs extensively in the earth's crust (ISSF,
2012). It is very advantageous when combine with other metals to form mixtures to
produce products such as alloys, stainless steel, coin, rechargeable batteries, catalysts
and other chemicals, coinage, foundry product, and plating (Lenntech, 2015). There
are also compounds consisting of Ni combined with many other elements such as
chlorine, sulfur and oxygen whereby it waters soluble, have a characteristic green
color and odorless or tasteless (ATSDR, 2011b). According to them, Ni can be
released into the atmosphere and discharge into waste water during Ni mining and by
industries that use Ni as a compound component. Consequently, the high Ni
concentrations present in sandy soils can clearly damage plants and diminish the
growth rates of algae or microorganism in the surface waters. Ni is a nutritionally
essential trace metal for at least several animal species, micro-organisms and plants,
and therefore either deficiency or toxicity symptoms can occur when, respectively, too
little or too much Ni is taken up (Cempel and Nikel, 2006). The main source of Ni in
drinking-water is leaching from metals in contact with drinking-water, such as pipes
and fittings (WHO, 2005). However, Ni may also be present in some groundwater as a
consequence of the dissolution of Ni ore-bearing rocks (Gupta, 2003). The exposure
of pollutants may cause the peoples sore throat, hoarseness, nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain, diarrhea, skin irritation, asthma, conjunctivitis, inflammatory
reactions to Ni-containing prostheses and implants (Cempel and Nikel, 2006).

37
2.3.3.7 Cooper
Copper (Cu) occurs in nature in its metallic form and in ores and minerals, and was
one of the first metals used by humans (USGS, 2009). Cu is used to make electrical
wiring, pipes, valves, fittings, coins, cooking utensils, munitions manufacturing,
coating and building materials as well as compounds fungicides, algaecides,
insecticides, wood preservatives and in electroplating, azo dye manufacture,
engraving, lithography, petroleum refining, pyrotechnics, fertilizers and animal feeds
as a nutrient to support plant and animal growth (WHO, 2004). Cu can be found in
surface water, groundwater, seawater and drinking-water, but it is primarily present in
complexes or as particulate matter (Zahra, 2013). Cu is an essential element in
mammalian nutrition as a component of metalloenzymes in which it acts as an
electron donor or acceptor (Stern et al., 2007). On the other hand, exposure to high
levels of Cu can result in a number of adverse health effects such as anemia,
immunotoxicity, developmental toxicity, damage liver and kidney (Ferrante et al.,
2014). The maximum acceptable limit of Co from MOHM for raw water quality is 1.0
mg/L.
2.3.3.8 Manganese
Manganese (Mn) is the twelfth most plentiful element in the earth’s crust and is
naturally present in rocks, soil, water, and food for growth, development, and
maintenance of health of living organisms (Santamaria, 2008). There are inorganic
and organic manganese compounds, with the inorganic forms being the most common
in the environment (Filho et al., 2009). The Mn is used principally in the manufacture
of iron and steel alloys including as an ingredient in various products such as batteries,

38
glass, fireworks, an octane-enhancing agent in unleaded petrol, an oxidant for
cleaning, bleaching and disinfection purposes, fertilizers, varnish, fungicides and
livestock feeding supplements (WHO, 2011c). In low concentration, Mn considers has
biological significance due to role of ability to prevent heart attack, stroke and require
to prevent congenital malformations in offspring, poor growth performance and low
efficiency of the reproductive system. Nonetheless, it’s become harmful and toxic at
excessive concentrations and may lead to the neurological and psychological disorder
(Azaman et al., 2015).
2.3.3.9 Chromium
Chromium (Cr) is an odorless, tasteless metallic element and commonly forms in
natural waters as trivalent and hexavalent Cr (Ferrante et al., 2014). Cr and its salts are
used in the leather tanning industry, the manufacture of catalysts, pigments and paints,
fungicides, the ceramic and glass industry, and in photography, and for chrome alloy
and Cr metal production, chrome plating, and corrosion control (Tsuchiya, 2010). Cr
can be found in waters only in trace amounts and naturally exist in small amount in
rocks, plants, soil and volcanic dust, and animals. The concentration will increase
because discharge of its compounds in surface water through various industries such
as metal surface refinery and alloys (Lenntech, 2015). Cr is an essential trace element
in some animals and humans that it helps to reduce body fat, improve lean body mass,
growth, maintain glucose, lipid and protein metabolism (Azaman et al., 2015).
However, it may cause intestine and stomach cancer to those who swallow the
contaminated drinking water with excess amount of hexavalent Cr. (Cone, 2009).

39
2.3.3.10 Cobalt
Cobalt (Co) is a hard ferromagnetic, silver-white, hard, lustrous, brittle element. It is
a member of group VIII of the periodic table. Similarly, it has identical physical
properties with iron and Nis such as can be magnetized. Chemically, it can form many
compounds such cobalt carbonate, cobalt sulfate, cobalt hydroxide, cobalt chloride,
etc. (Kim et al., 2006). According to Kim et al. (2006), Co is the 33 rd most abundant
elements and consist of 0.0025 % of the weight of the earth’s crust whereby it does
not occur naturally as a base metal, but is a component of more than 70 naturally
occurring minerals, including various sulfides, arsenides, sulfur- arsenides, hydroxides
and oxides. Meanwhile, the major anthropogenic sources of environmental Co include
mining and smelting of Co-bearing ores, the use of Co containing sludge or phosphate
fertilizers on soil, the disposal of Co- containing waste, atmospheric deposition from
activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and smelting and refining of metals. Co is
a critical metal that used as a super alloy in many of industrial such as to produce gas
turbine engines, corrosion and wear-resistant alloy, magnet, high- speed steels,
cemented carbides, diamond tools, catalysts for the petroleum and chemical industries,
pigments, battery electrodes, steel-belted radial tires, airbags in automobiles, magnetic
recording media, drying agents for paints, varnishes, military application, inks, etc.
(Shedd, 2002). Co is not often freely available in the environment, but it may be
accumulated in the plants and animal when Co particles are not bound to soil or
sediment particles. Consequently, Co is widely dispersed in the environment
thenceforth humans may be exposed to it by breathing air, drinking water and eating

40
food that contains Co (Nagajyoti et al, 2010). In fact, Co is beneficial for humans
because it is a part of vitamin B12, which is essential for human health and used in
anemia treatment for pregnant women, because it stimulates the production of red
blood cells (Zadeh and Ebrahimzadeh, 2010). However, exposure to high levels of Co
in the water may result in health problems such as asthma, pneumonia, nausea and
vomiting, vision problems, dermatitis, thyroid damage, severe damage to the heart,
and even death (TDSHS, 2012).
2.3.3.11 Beryllium
Beryllium (Be) is a gray metal that is stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum
with superb strength-to- weight, high melting point, excellent thermal stability and
conductivity, reflectivity, and transparent to X-rays make it an essential material in the
aerospace, telecommunications, defense, computer, medical, and nuclear industries
(Hanusa, 2015). Be mostly occurs naturally as beryllium aluminum silicate and
present in rocks, coal and oil, soil and volcanic dust. Be compounds may reside in the
soil for thousands of years. Nevertheless, disposal of coal ash, incinerator ash, and
industrial wastes may increase the amount of Be in the soil (Cooper and Harrison,
2009). Consequently, the most serious health effect of adverse exposure to Be is
Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD) which is a progressive and irreversible
inflammatory lung disease. This is an allergic type of lung response resulting from
inhaling airborne concentrations of Be particulates in the form of dusts, mists, and
fumes (Michaels and Monforton, 2008).

41
2.3.3.12 Strontium
Strontium (Sr) is a soft, silver-yellow and an alkaline earth metal that commonly
occurs in nature in the earth’s crust and comprises approximately 0.02 - 0.03 % in the
form of the sulfate mineral celestite and the carbonate strontianite (Watts and Howe,
2010). Small part of the Sr can present in water through soils, weathering of rocks and
sometimes comes from dust particles from the air, but becomes high concentrations in
the water caused by human activities such as disposal of coal ash and incinerator ash,
industries process and industrial wastes (ATSDR, 2004). Normally, Sr is consumed in
the ceramics, glass, and pyrotechnic industries such as to produce civilian and military
flares, fireworks, and tracer ammunition. It also used in aluminum alloys to improve
castings used in aerospace and automotive applications. Sr can be used to remove lead
impurities during the electrolytic production of zinc (Ober, 2013). Several different
forms of Sr are used as medicine such as to treat thinning bones or osteoporosis and
added to toothpaste as the srchloride hexahydrate to reduce pain in sensitive teeth.
However, extreme exposure to the Sr can cause disruption of bone development,
kidney problem and blood clotting disorder (Webmd, 2015).
2.3.3.13 Magnesium
Magnesium (Mg) is a light weight metal and always used in production aluminum
alloys, incendiary bomb, flares, fertilizer, sparklers and laxatives (Riley, 2011). Mg is
found naturally in surface water and presence in water is often closely correlated with

42
the type of land use in the catchment areas (Potasznik and Szymczyk, 2015).
Chemically, Mg is very active, it takes the place of hydrogen in boiling water and a
great number of metals can be produced by thermal reduction of its salts and oxidized
forms with magnesium and it always related with water hardness and alkalinity
(Nikanorov and Brazhnikova, 2009). Mg constitutes about 2 % of the earth's crust by
weight and naturally abundant in many rocky minerals, ocean water, underground
brines and salty layers (Lenntech, 2015), The concentration of Mg increase in the
environment because of the fertilizer application and cattle feed (Vendramini, 2007).
Furthermore, Mg is widely distributed in plant such as green leafy vegetables, such as
spinach, legumes, nuts and seeds (Immaculata, 2011). Medically, Mg is required for
the proper human growth, maintenance of bones, function of nerves, muscles and
helps to neutralize stomach acid and moves stools through the intestine, including
treating attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, chronic fatigue
syndrome (CFS), Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, leg cramps during pregnancy, diabetes,
kidney stones, migraine headaches, weak bones (osteoporosis), premenstrual
syndrome (PMS), altitude sickness, urinary incontinence, restless leg syndrome,
asthma, hay fever, multiple sclerosis, and for preventing hearing loss (Webmd, 2015).
Nonetheless, taking the excessive the Mg will cause the kidney cancer (Chiu et al.,
2011). It also consequences serious side effects, including an irregular heartbeat, low
blood pressure, confusion, slowed breathing, coma, and death (Cox, 2014).
2.3.3.14 Selenium

43
Selenium (Se) is present in the earth’s crust and normally found in concentrations of
50 till 90 µg/kg, however, it becomes higher concentrations when associated with
some volcanic, sedimentary and carbonate rocks (WHO, 2011d). The Se has no smell
and occurs in a number of different physical forms whereby the most stable type has a
hexagonal crystalline structure with dull gray colored solid at room temperature
meanwhile Se with a lattice-type crystalline structure has a deep red glassy solid and
amorphous forms, which have no definite or repetitive crystalline structure can be
either a red colored powder or a black jellylike substance (SEPA, 2015). According to
them, Se is used to make a variety of commercial products such as glassware,
photographic and electronic equipment, pigments, dyes, additives for metal processing
and as trace nutrients added to animal feed in agricultural activities. Consequently, Se
contamination of aquatic habitats can take place in urban, suburban, and rural settings
alike--from mountains to plains, from deserts to rainforests, and from the Arctic to the
tropics (Lemly, 2004). Furthermore, exposure to high concentration of Se can cause
dizziness, fatigue and irritations of the mucous membranes, the lungs and bronchitis
problem and may cause heart and muscle problems (ATSDR, 2003). However, the
right amount of Se can facilitate the normal function of the immune system and
thyroid gland. Its deficiency can lead to the cardiac problem (McGregor, 2015).
2.3.3.15 Vanadium
Vanadium (V) is a rare, soft, ductile gray-white element found combined in certain
minerals and commonly exist in different oxidation states include +2, +3, +4 and +5
(Lenntech, 2015). The vanadium is most often used by industry such as the

44
manufacturing of steel, producing rust resistant, spring, and high-speed tool steels,
production of components for aircraft engines and weapon systems, making it a
strategic mineral for armament manufacturers, nuclear applications, as a bonding
agent in cladding titanium steel, as a colorant or color enhancer in ceramic production,
as a catalyst in a wide array of chemical synthesis and oxidation reactions, as a
mordant in dyeing and printing fabrics and in the manufacture of aniline black
including making rubber, plastics, and certain other chemical substance (Gummow,
2005). Medically, V is used for treating diabetes, low blood sugar, high cholesterol,
heart disease, tuberculosis, syphilis, a form of “tired blood” (anemia), water retention
(edema), improving athletic performance in weight training and preventing cancer
(Webmd, 2015). V is a trace element widely distributed in the earth’s crust at an
average concentration of approximately 100 mg /kg, however, it becomes higher
concentrations in some water supplies, particularly in groundwater from volcanic
areas as a consequence of the leaching of V rich rocks (Crebelli and Leopardi, 2012).
It also increases due to the combustion fossil of fuel by the refinery and power plant as
well as coal and oil burning whereby the V emitted as particulate fall-down and
dissolved in rain water thenceforth enter the surface water runoff and aquatic
environment (Arena, Et al., 2015). Although exposure to the levels of V naturally
present in food and water are not considered to be harmful. However, studies in
humans who have been exposed to large amounts of reported minor complaints such
as stomach cramps (ATSDR, 2014) and increases the risk of chronic health effects
such as kidney damage (Webmd, 2015).
2.3.3.16 Thallium

45
Thallium (TI) is a soft, malleable, bluish-white metal, tasteless, odorless, and colorless
that is found in trace amounts in the earth’s crust. TI is 10 times more abundant than
silver and widely dispersed, mainly in potassium minerals such as sylvite and
pollucite (Lenntech, 2015). Its usefulness, TI is used for making photoelectric cells,
lamps, electronics, low temperature thermometers, semiconductors, myocardial
imaging, scintillation counters, optical lenses and useful in the manufacture of
imitation jewelry, pigments, used as medicine for a depilatory agent and fireworks
(Saha, 2005). However, TI is more toxic to the living organism than mercury,
cadmium, lead, copper or zinc and has been responsible for many accidental,
occupational, deliberate, and therapeutic poisonings since its discovery in 1861 (Peter
and Viraraghavan, 2004). Thallium has concentrations about 0.01~0.05 μg/L in
freshwater and marine respectively. Nonetheless, the concentration level increases in
some industrial wastewater due to the mining activities of Tl minerals (Yongheng et
al., 2013). As the result of TI contamination exposure, it can cause intoxication and
mainly affects the central nervous system, causes visual disorders, hair loss, and
known as a ‘hidden health killer’ if eaten the TI contamination food (Xiao et al.,
2004).
2.3.3.17 Silver
Silver (Ag) is nearly white, lustrous, soft, very ductile, malleable and great conductor
of heat and electricity. Ag occurs naturally in the environment, mostly in the form of
its very insoluble and immobile oxides, sulfides and some salts (Butterman and
Hilliard, 2004). According to ATSDR (2011c), Ag is often found as a by-product
during the retrieval of copper, lead, zinc, and gold ores. It is used to make jewelry,

46
silverware, electronic equipment, dental fillings, photographs, brazing alloys and
solders, to disinfect drinking water and water in swimming pools, and as an
antibacterial agent including used in lozenges and chewing gum to help people stop
smoking. Research on drinking water disinfection systems has shown that Ag can be
used successfully to control bacterial growth (Jennings, 2010). Water treated with Ag
may have levels of 50 µg/ L or higher and most of the Ag will be present as non-
dissociated Ag chloride as bacteria agent (WHO, 2003b). However, the daily intake of
silver from drinking-water can constitute the major route of oral exposure.
consequence breathing problems, irritation of throat and lungs, and stomach pain
(ATSDR, 1990). Meanwhile, chronic exposure to Ag compounds can lead to the
deposition of Ag-protein complexes in body tissues and cause a permanent bluish-
gray discoloration, which is termed “argyria” and also argyrosis which it impairs night
vision if Ag is accumulated in the conjunctiva and cornea of the eye (Lansdown,
2010).
2.3.3.18 Zinc
Zinc is a bluish-white metal element and found naturally at low concentrations in
many rocks and soils, principally as sulfide ores and to a lesser degree as carbonates
(Nassef, 2013). Naturally, it presents at low concentration in surface water due to rock
weathering from the natural sources (Mebrahtu and Zerabruk, 2011). However, the

47
concentration of Zn may exceed because of waste discharge from the human activities
such as production of corrosion-resistant alloys and brass, galvanizing steel, iron
products, white pigment, and pesticides (Goodwin, 2012). Medically, Zn is one of the
important trace elements that play an essential role in the physiological and metabolic
process for body growth and the development of many organisms. Deficiency of Zn
can lead to several disorders such as results in poor pregnancy outcomes and the
development of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and also cause
cancer (Azaman et al., 2015). Nonetheless, taking high concentration of Zn
consequences eminent health problems, such as stomach cramps, skin irritations,
vomiting, nausea and anemia (Hojati and Landi, 2015) and developing prostate cancer
for the chronic effect (Webmd, 2015).
2.3.3.19 Mercury
Mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic volatile heavy metal, liquid at room temperature, exist
in three oxidation forms such as elementary (Hg0), mercurous (Hg+) and mercuric
(Hg2+), and also can form both inorganic and organic compounds (Officioso et
al.,2016). It exists in nature primarily as elemental mercury or as a sulfide and is
found in the earth’s crust at approximately 0.5 mg/L whereby become abundantly
because of weathering from rock or through volcanoes as well as human activity such
as coal burning and gold or mercury (Bernhoft, 2011). Consequently, it contaminated
with water, and converted to methyl or ethyl mercury by microorganisms, which is
can be ingested by aquatic life such as tuna, swordfish, or shark that may concentrate
considerable mercury in their tissues thenceforth contaminate into the food chain

48
simultaneously can harm to humans, especially children, pregnant women, and
fetuses. The exposure of Mercury can cause of various of disease such as hypertonia,
neuroendocrine secretion disorder, kidney injury, Alzheimer, Parkinson, Autism,
reproductive problem, Lupus, asthma, etc. For instance, the Minamata Bay incident
was caused 52 individuals died and 202 were distracted by poisoning due to intake the
fish or shellfish that contaminated with the methyl mercury waste (Rimjhim et
al.,2013).
2.3.4 Suspended Solids and Sediment Pollution
These comprise of silt, sand and minerals eroded from land whereby can appear in the
water through the surface run-off during rainy season and through municipal sewers
consequences lead to the siltation and increases sediment thickness thereby reduces
the river depth (Ellison et al., 2014). Presence of siltation increases the TSS and
turbidity concentration consequences block the sunlight penetration in the water,
which is essential for the photosynthesis by bottom vegetation (Kerr, 1995).
According to him, the concentration of TSS in the water increases due to the mining
activities such as taking coal and iron ore, which can produce the particulates larger
than 2 microns and floating in the water body. Consequently, deposition of the solids
in the quiescent stretches of the stream or ocean bottom can harm the normal aquatic
life and affect the diversity of the aquatic ecosystem due to asphyxiation (Ghangrekar,
2012). In addition, it's more affected by the imbalance development along the river
basin, which causes uncontrolled water surface run-off into the river and becomes
worst during the flood disaster in the region (Saudi et al., 2014).

49
2.3.5 Thermal Pollution
Thermal pollution is defined as the degradation of water quality by any process that
changes ambient water temperature and considerable thermal pollution results due to
discharge of hot water from thermo-electric power plants, nuclear power plants, and
industries which the water is used as a coolant agent (Rosen et al., 2015). As a result
of the hot water discharge, the temperature of water body increases, which reduces the
DO content of the water affecting the aquatic life adversely (Ghangrekar, 2012).
Water used for the cultivation of fish cannot yield maximum production if the thermal
conditions are not optimal for the fish and other organism’s whereby the temperature
has a considerable influence on the principal and vital activities of the fish notably
(Ekubo and Abowei, 2011).
2.3.6 Pathogenic Microbes Pollution
Microbiological pollution is the natural form of water pollution that is caused by
microorganisms in uncured water and most of these organisms are harmless, but some
bacteria, viruses, and protozoa can cause serious diseases such as cholera and typhoid
(Hearn, 2015). Microbes are very tiny organism that only can see through the
microscope. There are types of microbes such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi
that can live in the aquatic environments whereby they have important roles in aquatic
ecosystem functioning (Singh et al., 2014). Nevertheless, microbial contamination of

50
surface and ground waters by pathogenic or disease-causing organisms such as
coliform bacteria is probably the most important water quality issue in the developing
world, since water is crucially used for drinking, bathing and irrigation (Aboagye,
2012). Some of the bacterial pathogens that are found in wastewater include
Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia coli, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Vibrio (Olaolu et al.,
2014). They can enter into water body through the sewage discharge which it is a
major source or through the wastewater from industries like slaughterhouses
simultaneously can lead the water borne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery,
polio and infectious hepatitis in human (Ghangrekar, 2012). In addition, discharge of
fecal matter from agricultural and domestic wastes, including human excreta into the
water may pollute to source of domestic water supply that would cause to the serious
health risk through the outbreak of water-related diseases (Aboagye, 2012).
Furthermore, the numbers of these microorganisms increase and utilize the obtainable
oxygen when the biodegradable materials exist due to the waste or erosion from
farming. Consequently, the DO levels are depleted and thenceforth the harmless
aerobic microorganisms die and anaerobic microorganisms thrive which can produce
damaging toxins such as sulphide and ammonia (Hearn, 2015).
2.3.7 Radioactive Pollution
Radioactive waste is a material deemed no longer useful that has been contaminated
by or contains radionuclides which is unstable atoms of an element can decay, or
disintegrate spontaneously and emitting energy in the form of radiation (Jablonski,

51
2015). The radioactivity present in surface waters is mainly due to the presence of
radioactive elements in the soil or rock and human activities such as nuclear power
plants, nuclear weapons testing, ore mining, manufacture and use of radioactive
sources (Bonavigo, 2009). According to Bonavigo (2009), there are three radioactive
series like uranium, thorium, and actinium includes the naturally occurring elements
radium, uranium, and the radioactive gas radon. These contaminants may cause the
biological damage which radium and uranium can cause cancers in the bones and
damage the kidneys. Meanwhile, radioactive discharge from nuclear power plants and
nuclear reactors such as isotope strontium (Sr) 90, caesium (Cs) 137, plutonium (Pu)
248 can accumulate in the bones, teeth and can cause serious disorders. Every
exposure to radiation increases the risk of damage the tissues, cells, deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) and other vital molecules which each exposure potentially can cause
programmed cell death, genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects and
reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders (Riverkeeper, 2015).
2.3.8 Nutrients Pollution
Nutrient pollution is one of most widespread, costly and challenging environmental
problems, and is caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the water (Vincent,
2014). The run-off wastewater from fertilizer usage in agriculture industry and sewage
contains a high concentration of the nutrients, thereby provide excessive nutrients to
the plants and encourage growth of algae and other aquatic weeds in the river (Morris,
2011). Excessive amounts of nutrients are known as eutrophication can lead the low
levels of DO in the water as resultant too much of algae growth and bloom blocks the

52
sunlight that is needed for growth of aquatic plants such as seagrass. Consequently,
the plants die and decompose whereby it needs high oxygen demand for the
decomposition process simultaneously, it decreases the levels of DO in the water,
thereby kill the fish, crabs, oysters, and other aquatic animals (Hearn, 2013). Thus, the
activity such as swimming in the eutrophic waters containing blue-green algae is risky
and people potential to get skin and eye irritation, gastroenteritis and vomiting
(Ghangrekar, 2014). In addition, the surplus of nitrate or nitrite from excess fertilizers
or leaching of wastewater and other organic wastes into water surface can cause
methemoglobinemia which the symptoms are developmental delay, failure to thrive
intellectual disability and seizures (Fewtrell, 2004).
2.4 Water Quality Assessment
Water quality assessment (WQA) is the overall process of evaluation of the physical,
chemical and biological nature of the water, whereas water quality monitoring is the
collection of the relevant information (Chapman, 1996). WQA provides an

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