Chapter 2
Landscape Perspective to River Pollution: A
Case Study of Bentong River, Malaysia
Nor Rohaizah Jamil and Zakariya Nafi Shehab
2.1 Introduction
Up to March 2012, the global population surpassed 7 billion people, a double of
what it was less than 50 years ago (United States Census Bureau 2012). United
Nations (UN 2018) estimated that 55% of the people live in urbanized cities, and it
was predicted that by 2030, 68% of people will live in urbanized zones, and even
reach 75% by 2050. If this trend of population growth and urban expansion
continues at a rapid pace, the risks and dangers posed to the availability of natural
resources and the quality of life will greatly escalate (McGrane 2016).
Water perhaps is the most threatened and vulnerable medium by this uncontrolled
growth. With the expansion of population growth, now water is becoming a scarce
commodity. By 2030, according to a recent United Nations report (UN 2018), more
than 700 million people may be forced to migrate to urban areas, due to intense water
shortage. The quality of water plays an important role, as it affects the health of soil,
crops, animals, human beings, and all surrounding environment (McGrane 2016).
Surface water quality is dependent upon natural processes as well as anthropogenic activities, either collectively or separately. Particularly, the human interference
has deteriorated the water quality through point and non-point pollution sources in
both urban and rural areas (Khatri and Tyagi 2015). For their benefits, they have
utilized the natural resources so badly that affect the setting of landscape and other
environmental components. With the landscape changes, the sediment load, nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter of streams and rivers get distributed (Rosso and
Cirelli 2013). The human beings have utilized the natural resources including
landscape for the need of their houses, food, and for the development of other
N. R. Jamil (*) · Z. N. Shehab
Department of Environment, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
Serdang, Malaysia
e-mail: norrohaizah@upm.edu.my
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Singh et al. (eds.), Water Pollution and Management Practices,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8358-2_2
19
Landscape Perspective to River Pollution: A
Case Study of Bentong River, Malaysia
Nor Rohaizah Jamil and Zakariya Nafi Shehab
2.1 Introduction
Up to March 2012, the global population surpassed 7 billion people, a double of
what it was less than 50 years ago (United States Census Bureau 2012). United
Nations (UN 2018) estimated that 55% of the people live in urbanized cities, and it
was predicted that by 2030, 68% of people will live in urbanized zones, and even
reach 75% by 2050. If this trend of population growth and urban expansion
continues at a rapid pace, the risks and dangers posed to the availability of natural
resources and the quality of life will greatly escalate (McGrane 2016).
Water perhaps is the most threatened and vulnerable medium by this uncontrolled
growth. With the expansion of population growth, now water is becoming a scarce
commodity. By 2030, according to a recent United Nations report (UN 2018), more
than 700 million people may be forced to migrate to urban areas, due to intense water
shortage. The quality of water plays an important role, as it affects the health of soil,
crops, animals, human beings, and all surrounding environment (McGrane 2016).
Surface water quality is dependent upon natural processes as well as anthropogenic activities, either collectively or separately. Particularly, the human interference
has deteriorated the water quality through point and non-point pollution sources in
both urban and rural areas (Khatri and Tyagi 2015). For their benefits, they have
utilized the natural resources so badly that affect the setting of landscape and other
environmental components. With the landscape changes, the sediment load, nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter of streams and rivers get distributed (Rosso and
Cirelli 2013). The human beings have utilized the natural resources including
landscape for the need of their houses, food, and for the development of other
N. R. Jamil (*) · Z. N. Shehab
Department of Environment, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
Serdang, Malaysia
e-mail: norrohaizah@upm.edu.my
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Singh et al. (eds.), Water Pollution and Management Practices,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8358-2_2
19