Malays. Appl. Biol (2005) 34(1): 37-45
WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT AT SELECTED RIVERS IN THE
HULU LANGAT AND SG. LALANG FOREST RESERVES,
SELANGOR, DARUL EHSAN
AINON, H.1*, MUHAMMAD, E.G.2, ZULKARNAIN, M.A.2 and NORAZURA, J.2
1School of Biosciences and Biotechnology,
2School of Environmental & Natural Resource Science,
Faculty of Science and Technology, University Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600 Bangi, Selangor
ABSTRACT
Sungai Lalang and Hulu Langat Forest Reserve, which have been gazetted as Forest Reserve in 1907 and 1915 respectively, are important areas for water catchments in Selangor. There are many rivers originate and flow in these areas, eg. Sg. Chongkak, Sg. Lepok, Sg. Gabai, Sg. Chinarek, Sg. Tekala, Sg. Rephens, Sg. Batangsi and Sg. Pening. majority of them join the Langat or Semenyih rivers. Originally, Hulu Langat was a primary forest and in 1974 this area was slowly developed into agricultural land. In 1981 the area of forest became less since more trees being cut and turned into agriculture land, settlement or left as an open space. In 1995 the forest and agricultural areas were further reduced to bushland. Some of the rivers such as Sg. Tekala and Sg. Gabai are used as recreation areas foi local community. From our study, all the rivers are in the category of Class IIB (clean) based on the physico-chemical parameters but for biological indicator; the fecal coliform counts exceeded the Interim National Water Quality Standards for Malaysia. Thus, the water near the sampling stations cannot be used as recreational purpose with body contact activities.
ABSTRAK
Hutan Simpan Sungai Lalang dan Hulu Langat yang telah diwartakan sebagai Hutan Simpan masing-masing dalam tahun 1907 dan 1915, adalah kawasan yang pen ting sebagai tadahan air di Selangor. Terdapat banyak sungai yang berpunca dan mengalir di kawasan ini contohnya, Sg. Chongkak, Sg. Lepok, Sg. Gabai, Sg. Chinarek, Sg. Tekala, Sg. Rephens, Sg. Batangsi dan Sg. Pening. Kebanyakan daripada sungai-sungai ini akhirnya bercantum dengan Sungai Langat atau Sungai Semenyih. Asalnya Hulu Langat adalah kawasan hutan primer, kemudian pada tahun 1974 kawasan ini perlahan-lahan bertukar kepada kawasan pertanian. Dalam tahun 1981 kawasan hutan menjadi semakin berkurangan kerana lebih banyak pokok ditebang dan ditukar kepada tanah pertanian, penempatan atau dibiar sebagai tanah lapang. Dalam tahun 1995 kawasan hutan dan tanah pertanian menjadi semakin kecil dan pertambahan kawasan semak. Sebahagian daripada sungai-sungai seperti Sg. Tekala dan Sg. Gabai digunakan oleh penduduk :empatan sebagai kawasan rekreasi. Daripada hasil kajian kualiti air berdasarkan parameter fiziko-kimia, semua sungai-sungai yang terlibat adalah di dalam kategori Kelas IIB (bersih) tetapi berdasarkan penunjuk biologi, bilangan koliform tinja didapati melebihi nilai Interim Piawaian Kualiti Air Kebangsaan untuk Malaysia. Oleh itu air yang berhampiran kawasan kajian tidak boleh digunakan sebagai air untuk tujuan rekreasi yang melibatkan aktiviti yang ada sentuhan dengan badan.
Key words: Hulu Langat Forest Reserve, Sg. Lalang Forest Reserve, water quality, E. coli
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