Total coliform and Escherichia coli is the omnipresent microorganism contaminating the drinking water. This study is using granular bed filtration as a vigorous, simple and economical method to prevent the penetration of bacterial contamination, by discovering an alternative filter media from local source; namely the burnt oil palm shell (BOPS). This study demonstrated that granular media filter with mix media classes which is the dual-media filtration were found to be reliable surrogates for biological barrier during filtration studies. Dual-media filtration BOPS/sand ES 1.0/0.5 mm was operating under optimum condition of bacteriological removing where 0.63 log and 0.46 log of removal for total coliform and Escherichia coli. The BOPS was identified as a potential filter media that will help in reducing the cost of water treatment and enhancing environmental sustainability. The results from this study suggested that BOPS should be used as a new biodegradable medium filter in water treatment process, specifically for the removal of pathogenic microorganism.

Groundwater has long been identified as potential alternative of clean water supply due to its reliable quantity. However, pollution of groundwater due to anthropogenic factor still remains a challenging issue. To date, nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) has received great attention for its capability to treat various contaminants including chlorinated organics and metals. This study investigate Zinc (Zn) removal in aqueous solution by nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI). The characteristics study of the synthesized nZVI particles were investigated by its particle size and surface morphology using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). SEM and TEM analyses verified that the particles size of synthesized nZVI were 71nm (< 100 nm). Structure of nZVI congragate to each other and a thin layer of oxide layer formed on the outer part of the nZVI particle. In the batch study, removal kinetic of Zn increased from 0.14 to 0.18 mins-1 as the concentration of Zn increased from 0.1 to 0.5 ppm. However, the removal kinetic decreased from 0.162 to 0.148 mins-1 as the amount of nZVI was increased from 0.25 mg/L to 2.50 mg/L. At pH 7, removal kinetic reached 0.157 mins-1. However as the pH suspension decreases to pH 6.5, the removal kinetics decreased significantly to 0.144 mins-1. The same behaviour was observed at pH 9 where the removal kinetics was decreased to 0.117 mins-1. Removal kinetic of Zn significantly decreased at basic condition due to the formation of passivation layer which decreased the density of reactive surface area (e.g., Fe0 and Fe2+) on the surface of nZVI. Experimental results from this study can provide basic knowledge of effectiveness of Zn removal mechanisms by nZVI at different environment conditions and provide potential remediation technology for the treatment of toxic heavy metals in groundwater.

Municipal waste is growing rapidly due to the increase in the human population. Higher production of leachate from the treatment plant also cause problems to the landfills storage. Takakura composting method (TCM) is one of the techniques that is frequently used to recycle and transform the organic materials into a natural fertilizer. In this project, the leachate sludge will be mix together with food waste in order to enhance the degradation of the organic matter. The use of cultivated microorganisms which will be produced from the fermentation solution. The physical and chemical analyses were observed in order to determine the rate of microbial activity optimum condition of the good compost. The parameters that were analyzed are temperature, moisture content, pH value, NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and heavy metals concentration. All four types of compost with 1 kg weight ended with a neutral pH in the range 7-8 after 5 weeks’ observations. NPK content for potassium is from 57 ppm to 104 ppm, phosphorus is from 2.5 ppm to 15 ppm and nitrogen is from 0.9% to 3 %. For heavy metal content at the end of the observation, all composts have a low level of Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn and Cr where it is safe to be used in agriculture activities. As a conclusion, the compost in this study is sufficient to be used in agricultural purposes, and the optimum condition of the compost was demonstrated by Compost C which uses the ratio of 0.3: 0.2: 0.5 (gram).

Drinking water contamination is one of the most major environmental concerns that requires worldwide attention. It is now universally agreed that by supplying the community with safe water, the plague of waterborne diseases can be prevented. The increasing global concern about the environment is the utilization of agricultural waste transformation into wealth material for value-added products which should be given priority. Therefore, this study is using granular bed filtration as a vigorous, simple and economical method to prevent the physical contamination, by discovering an alternative filter media from local sources; namely the palm shell charcoal (PSC). Dual-media filtration PSC/sand ES 1.0/0.5 mm is operates at an optimum condition of removing 80.77% of turbidity, 76.23% of suspended solid and 59.45% of colour in 5 m/h flow rate.There was a statistically significant difference between types of media filter to the removal of physical variable at 0.05 levels as determined by one-way anova for the percentage removal of turbidity (p < 0.001), suspended solid (p < 0.001) and colour (p < 0.001).The PSC was identified as a potential filter media that will help in reducing the cost of water and wastewater treatment and enhancing environmental sustainability. The results from this study suggests that the PSC should be significantly used as a new biodegradable medium filter and for the removal of physical contaminants such turbidity, suspended solid and colour.

Population growth in Malaysia is expected to increase rapidly. Every sector of industry is expected to have a revolution including in agriculture sector. The utilization of organic fertilizer in agriculture as a green movement is to replace the chemical fertilizer subsequently, reduce the municipal sludge waste. Hence enhancing the growth and supply of nutrient to plant. However, the pathogenic growth in the final product is the greatest concerns. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the pathogen population in the compost of municipal sludge mixed with landscape waste for 90 days. The pathogen dynamic and its correlation with organic matter in 3 different ratios were analysed and recorded. The result showed that the pathogenic trends was uniformly increased at the early stage of composting and decreased gradually after reached the peak. R4 which comprises of equal ratio between municipal sludge and seed compost showed positive correlation with organic matter. R3 and R4 showed better removal of pathogen at maturity stage. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella were failed to comply with the standard for R3 and only Salmonella failed for R4. This study supports the achievement of the Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) as an alternative way to combat the environmental issue by leveraging the usage of the waste produced for the purpose of the waste reduction and sustain the environment.