Abstract

There had been concerns about related issues on urban river pollution in Malaysia. These included inadequate supplies of water in big cities and unexpected floods threatening human lives and property. The results of efforts to improve the Gombak River water quality in Kuala Lumpur were presented. The Gombak River is a tributary of the Klang River that passes through the populous and important city of Kuala Lumpur. Special focus on metals content was given following reports by the Department of Environment of Malaysia to assess the state of metal contamination of the river. The effectiveness of government efforts through engineering and river works and public awareness campaigns to strive for a healthier Gombak River was observed over a period of nine years from 1997 to 2005. Results showed that the pollution status in relation to concentrations of metals in the river water had essentially remained at the same levels over the study period for all metals investigated.

Key words: Heavy metal pollution, pollutant source, remedial method, urban river.