That river you're chucking your trash in? That's your drinking water

Across Malaysia, rivers are our main source of tap water. So why are we still throwing our rubbish down the river?

Man-made causes of river pollution still lurk as a threat to safe drinking water in Malaysia. For example, the recent dry spell has led to poor dilution of pollutants in Selangor's Sungai Langat, rendering the river unsuitable for water extraction. As ammoniacal nitrogen levels soared above permissible levels in late January – due to pollution from sewage, fertiliser runoff and sullage – two water treatment plants in Cheras and Dengkil were shut, leading to dry taps in over 20,000 households in Hulu Langat and Kuala Langat.