The third Salcon Smart Water Program of 2022 was held at Bukit Kiara Federal Park on the October 22nd in collaboration with Water Watch Penang (WWP). Along with representatives from Salcon Berhad, Ms. Chern Meng Gaik and Mr. Kong Qi Yan, 38 students, and 2 teachersfrom SMK Lembah Subang attended the river activity.
The purpose of this river activity is to educate and share information with the students about rivers and water on a global, regional, and local level, with a particular emphasis on Selangor. Dr. Hong Chern Wern served as the program’s lead, assisted by facilitators, Ms. Ong Ke Shin, Ms. Adeline Chong, Mr. Ooi Che Khai, Ms. Alicia Khor, and Ms. Janice Yip as facilitator as well as as well as Mr. Gan Vincent who was the official photographer for the event.
Dr. Hong began the program by outlining the country’s water issue and the importance of water conservation to the students. Then, he divided the students into four groups and the facilitators guided the students on how to perform physical, and chemical assessment of a river.
This section was to determine the quality of the river water, including measuring pH, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, among other parameters. The students were also instructed to use the “catch and release” method and compute the number of species of macroinvertebrates found so that the Biological Water Quality Index of the water can be determined. After the calculation and comparison among the 4 group members, we could conclude that the river is a class B river which is considered as a clean river. Along with shrimp, crayfish, pagoda snails, and damselfly nymphs, many developmental stages of dragonfly nymphs were also been captured and photographed.
The programme ended with souvenir and certificate presentation by Salcon to the teachers and students of SMK Lembah Subang.
Kindly contact Executive Manager, Dr. Hong Chern Wern at hong.wwp@gmail.com for more information.
Photos: Courtesy of Mr. Gan Vincent and Water Watch Penang.
