Pengumuman Persidangan Tahun 2014

1. Non Point Source Pollution 2014 First National Conference on Non Point Source Pollution NPS 2014 akan diadakan di Vivatel Hotel- Kuala Lumpur, 85, Jalan Loke Yew Kuala Lumpur pada 13-14 May 2014.

Why NPS?

It is widely known that surface water can be degraded due to Point Source (wastewater from domestic, commercial, industrial uses) and Non-Point Source (NPS) pollution (urban and agricultural runoff). However, water quality degradation due to NPS is more difficult to monitor and control compared to PS as it does not originate from a single discrete source.

Sources of NPS pollution can be divided according to its land use such as from agricultural, forestry or urban area. Types of NPS pollutants based on its land use are oil, grease, chemicals, pet wastes, faulty septic systems (urban areas), fertilizers, pesticides, salt, pathogens from livestock operations (agricultural lands) and sediment (forest lands).

The NPS pollution has following characteristics:

(i) compared to point sources pollution, the sources of  NPS pollution are wide spread where pollutants are discharged into receiving waters in diffuse manner and strongly influenced by storm characteristics.

(ii) The pollutants generation processes usually occur over the entire land surface area. Before pollutants enter a water body, there are transport processes that occur over a wide region, accompanied by dissolution, dispersion and infiltration.

(iii) NPS pollutants are usually discharged at unknown instants of time into water system with uncertain values of concentration. These factors are influenced by unexpected naturalconditions or the accidental discharge of pollutants.

(iv) The extent of nonpoint source pollution is determined by many factors which are related to climatic events, geographic and geologic features. It may show large temporal and spatial variations.

Stormwater runoff acts as transport agent for NPS pollutants. In general, major pollutants found in urban stormwater runoff are suspended solids, detergents,  heavy metals and sewage discharges  while agricultural runoff pollutants includes fertilizer, pesticides, sediment (eroded soil), oxygen demanding matters, faecal bacteria from feedlot, oil spill and excess nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosporus) .

NPS pollution causes:

• Eutrophication of lakes and streams (loss of biodiversity in aquatic environment).
• Soil contamination by heavy metals and the accumulation of pesticide residues in food.
•  Contribute to land degradation and causes arable land to be unproductive.

Laws or regulations in Malaysia to monitor and control NPS pollution are un-stringently enforced as the sources are numerous and diverse.

More info sila lawat http://www.utm.my/nps2014/

2. ICCE/IAHS 2014 symposium, New Orleans. USA. Dec 11- 14, Astor Crown Plaza, New Orleans
 This International Symposium on Sediment Dynamics: From the Summit to the Sea is part of a series of symposia organized under auspices of The International Commission on Continental Erosion (ICCE), which is one of ten commissions of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).

Session Themes

• Monitoring and modeling erosion on hills, floodplains, and coastal shorelines
• Monitoring and modeling sediment transport in streams, rivers, and estuaries
• Erosion and sediment-associated chemical transport and pollution across landscape and waterscape
• Land use and climate change effects on erosion and sediment transport
• Interactions between sediment hydrodynamics, channel morphodynamics, river delta, and coastal processes

Note: Syarahan Profesor Wan Ruslan ...hampir sama dengan tajuk conference ini. He is a member of the IAHS since 1990

3. International Association for Sediment and Water Science ( IASWS) Conference at  Grahamstown South Africa, 15-18 July 2014. Details please contact http://www.iasws2014.co.za/




Note: Prof Wan Ruslan is the Director at Large for IASWS  from 2011-2014.