Bacteriological Monitoring and Sustainable Management of Beach Water Quality in Malaysia: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Despite the growing demand of tourism in Malaysia, there are no resolute efforts to develop beaches as tourist destinations. With no incentives to monitor public beaches or to use them in a sustainable manner, they might eventually degenerate in quality as a result of influx of pollutants. This calls for concerted action plans with a view to promoting their sustainable use. The success of such plans is inevitably anchored on the availability of robust quality monitoring schemes. Although significant efforts have been channelled to collation and public disclosure of bacteriological quality data of rivers, beach water monitoring appears left out. This partly explains the dearth of published information related to beach water quality data. As part of an on-going nation-wide surveillance study on the bacteriological quality of recreational beaches, this paper draws on a situation analysis with a view to proffering recommendations that could be adapted for ensuring better beach water quality in Malaysia.

Validation of the Enterococci indicator for bacteriological quality monitoring of beaches in Malaysia using a multivariate approach

“…Usually, public authorities and responsible politicians consider water quality statistics and take a decision on what proportion of failures they think can be accepted based on a consideration of political factors, economic factors and suggested MAC hinged on available empirical data. In cases where there are no indigenous studies that present empirical findings which suggest epidemiologically proven action levels or maximum admissible concentrations that make a case for the initiation of a beach water bacteriological quality monitoring (BQM) program, a worst case scenario of political inaction and negligence may become observable (Dada et al, 2012). …”

“…Public recreational beaches are however, apparently left out of these surveillance schemes. A recent report highlighted challenges in the management of coastal recreational beaches in Malaysia (Dada et al, 2012). Particularly worrying is the possibility of direct sewage and stormwater discharge into beaches coupled with the apparent absence of early warning systems that inform the public on how safe the beaches are.…”

“…Particularly worrying is the possibility of direct sewage and stormwater discharge into beaches coupled with the apparent absence of early warning systems that inform the public on how safe the beaches are. Also recent review articles on recreational beaches in Malaysia have highlighted potential impacts of tourism activities, shipping, refinery effluent, land reclamation and coastal zone property development on recreational water quality (Dada et al, 2012;Praveena et al, 2011). Every year, an estimated 120 million cases of gastrointestinal illnesses and 50 million cases of respiratory ailments are contracted by bathers in polluted coastal waters (Shuval, 2003).…”

“…The challenge at hand is thus no longer that of generating or accumulating beach water quality data but one of integrating information in a systematic manner for the purpose of making decisive policy judgements on beach water quality management (Dada et al, 2012). Given the intricacies associated with study design, methodology, data collation and interpretation in water quality monitoring schemes (Ongley, 1997), it is imperative that a robust approach be adopted for interpretation of generated data so that the original purpose is not defeated.…”

Reflections on ‘Microbiological quality of packaged water sold in Accra, Ghana’

“…Conclusively, as argued by Dada, Asmat, Gires, Heng, and Deborah (2012), the challenge of today's world is no longer that of accessing information but one of integrating information in a systematic manner for the purpose of making decisive policy judgements. Hopefully in the near future, more studies on this drinking water option in developing nations will emerge with design criteria that (i) pre-identifies core management issues to be addressed and (ii) seeks to answer specific questions vital to policy decision making (as attempted in the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point study by Opatunji & Odhiambo, 2013).…”