Water Warriors bring Universiti Malaya's Varsity Lake back to life

Clean again: Once plagued with algae blooms and pollution, Varsity Lake in Universiti Malaya is now clean enough for recreation. — Filepic

Within the grounds of Universiti Malaya, a pond called Varsity Lake provides students and staff with a delightful respite. Kayaking activities take place alongside paddling ducks and geese. The scene signals the clean state of health of the lake; it is suitable for both recreation and animal life.

The current condition of the lake is the pride of the university. Two years ago, any recreation would not have been possible due to severe eutrophication (excessive nutrient enrichment) in the lake. It created an immense growth of algae which led to flash floods and overflows of turbid water. Compounding the problem was the presence of invasive species like tilapia and snakehead which dominated the lake.

But it didn’t take long for the campus community to spring into action. Students and staff formed the Water Warriors Group to clean up the lake. That was in 2013, and their enthusiasm caught the attention of deputy vice-chancellor Prof Dr Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan, who encouraged the campaign to be formalised as Project ReviVaL.

In December that year, the group identified three phases to be carried out under the project: research, fixing and life. These goals proved instrumental in the rehabilitation process of the lake, says postdoctoral fellow Dr Nobumitsu Sakai, a key committee member of Water Warriors.

“In the first phase of research, we did weekly monitoring of water quality to identify the source of pollution, as well as lake profiling to visualise the water quality. We also conducted sediment investigation and water quality simulation with modelling tools like geographic information system (GIS),” explains Sakai, who presented a paper on the project at the Water Malaysia 2015 conference recently.

Severe eutrophication caused algae blooms in the lake. Photo: Water Warriors

Between January and June last year, they monitored six water quality parameters: pH (measure of acidity), dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, ammoniacal nitrogen and suspended solids.

“What we found from our data analysis is that there is a huge amount of ammoniacal nitrogen coming out from the sump, causing eutrophication with the high nutrient load. The pollution came mainly from the Engineering Faculty, as determined through our GIS-based visualisation mechanism,” says Sakai.

When the first phase of surveying and identifying the root cause of the problem was completed, the second phase began last August. The “fixing” phase is aimed at improving technical aspects, like tackling the source of pollution, draining and dredging, repairing the outlet, as well as establishing natural treatment systems like riprap (embankments made from rocks to protect riverbeds) and wetlands.

Students and staff volunteered their time for the lake restoration. Photo: Water Warriors

“We constructed an underground pipeline to diverge the sewage into the nearby Pantai River. However, this is only a temporary measure as we plan to treat the water later on. Draining and dredging were done to remove sediments. During the draining process, we did biodiversity checks in which we caught invasive fish species. They were mostly tilapia and snakehead, which made up 70% of the population, while local fish like goby and catfish were only 30%,” continues Sakai.

Sakai says clear goals helped in the success of the lake clean-up. Photo: LIM CHIA YING/The Star

The group planted some 600 plants in the wetlands, which help to filter the water. Through commitment and continuous efforts, the eutrophication problem has been resolved, while the cyanobacteria (an aquatic bacteria with bluish-green pigmentation) is also gone.

The group has moved to Phase 3 of the project, “life”, which is about involving the local community in clean-up activities, joint monitoring of water quality, and developing a lake management system. It also extends to beautifying the surroundings, which includes the release of ducks and geese, as well as construction of a tree house.

However, the lake now faces two new issues. “The first is deteriorating water quality which we have not been able to pinpoint why. In March, we found Euglena species floating on the lakeside, which could be due to the presence of nutrients. We are investigating the source of the pollution. Secondly, aquatic plants have propagated so rapidly that about 25% of the lake is covered in it. We had about six tonnes of it removed in February,” says Sakai.