At the Taman Jajar, Sungai Ara on September 10, 2024, Prince of Wales Island International School (POWIIS) participated in a river and water education event that was successfully planned by Water Watch Penang (WWP).
The event, which ran from 9 am to 12:00 pm, included a fascinating and interactive exercise designed to educate the students about the value of rivers and how to evaluate their health using physical, chemical, and biological assessments. The Sungai Ara river is regarded as one of the cleanest rivers present in the middle of a housing area. During the water disruption in Penang at the end of 2023, the community surrounding the river collected the river water for non-potable consumption at home while waiting for the water to be restored.
A total of six teachers and fifty-two multinational seventh- and eighth-graders took part in the program. Ms. Fatin Azahara, a WWP education officer, led the program for the day, with assistance from Ms. Nur Atiqah, another education officer. Mr. Aiman, a trained facilitator, together with the three interns—Ms. Fatin Amira, Ms. Khor Ci Shan, and Ms. Nurul Husna—as well as RASMA volunteer Ms. Dahrya, provided assistance for the program.
Ms. Fatin Azahara began with a brief introduction to Water Watch Penang’s vision and mission, followed by discussions on various global river and water issues and the roles of rivers. Following that, the kids were split up into four groups, each with a facilitator. Temperature, river velocity, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, phosphate, nitrate, and nitrite levels in the river water were all measured during the first session’s physical and chemical evaluations.
After a short break the biological assessment session was led by Ms. Nur Atiqah after the break. The number of macroinvertebrate species found was determined by applying the catch and release method to produce the Biological Water Quality Index. Flattened mayfly nymphs, dragonfly nymphs, caddisfly larvae, and stonefly nymphs are examples of macroinvertebrates that are commonly seen in clearer river water that the students tried collecting.
For more info about our River and Water Education Programme, please contact us at info.waterwatchpenang@gmail.com