Regulations under the Environmental Quality Act on the limits of contaminants that can be discharged into rivers need immediate improvement, says water quality specialist Dr Zaki Zainudin.
He said the current control approach has shortcomings and don’t guarantee the preservation of rivers and other water bodies.
“Under the Act, we are controlling contaminants discharged in terms of its concentration, which is no longer relevant as there is no certainty that these contaminants would be diluted by the river.
“It is time to change our control approach to something more effective, and one way to do this is by adopting the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) methodology,” Dr Zaki said.
Dr Zaki Zainudin presenting his argument
TMDL is a regulatory term in countries like the United States and describes the value of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards.
Dr Zaki said this when met after he gave a presentation in a forum organised by think-tank Bait Al Amanah in Pasir Gudang here on Thursday (Aug 29)
Forum on Pasir Gudang organized by Bait Al Amanah
*This article was originally published in The Star Newspaper