ASSESSMENT OF ARSENIC, LEAD, MERCURY AND COLIFORM COUNT IN SERDANG LAKE, SELANGOR MALAYSIA

Abstract

Environmental impacts from domestic and industrial wastes on aquatic ecosystems have received increasing attention
in recent years. Furthermore, water-associated diseases have become one of the ten topmost diseases due to poor
drinking water quality. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the concentration of three heavy metals (arsenic (As),
lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg)) and coliform count in Sri Serdang Mines Lake. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometry (ICP- MS) was employed for the analysis of heavy metals. Both of fecal coliform (FC) and total
coliform (TC) methods were carried out using the membrane filter technique as described by APHA (1995) standard.
Results were recorded as colony forming units (CFU)/100 mL of sample. The As, Pb and Hg concentration values
were ranged from 0.0287 to 0.0334; 0.0357 to 0.0508 and 0.00058 to 0.00161 mg/L, respectively. The TC and FC of
Escherichia coli in Sri Serdang Mines Lake were in the range of 102
to 105 CFU/100 mL. Pb was the most abundant
heavy metal present in all the water samples as compared to As and Hg. There were also significant differences
(p<0.05) in both TC and FC concentrations in the water samples from all the five stations. Therefore, efficient heavy
metal removal and disinfection are essential to prevent possible human exposure.