PETALING JAYA, 7 October 2017 – Today, in celebration of World Water Monitoring Day, Salcon Berhad, in collaboration with Water Watch Penang (WWP) together with students from SMK Kelana Jaya joined the EarthEcho Water Challenge (formerly known as World Water Monitoring Challenge) to monitor Sg. Penchala at Lembah Kiara TTDI via the Salcon Smart Water Programme (SSWP). SSWP is an educational programme catered for primary and secondary school students with the aim to instil awareness amongst the younger generation on the importance of our precious water resources since 2010.
During the half day programme, students monitored Sg Penchala for its temperature, pH level, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, water flow rate, clarity, colour, smell and micro- invertebrates using hands-on testing kits and diagram via SSWP. The results were then updated into its official website at http://www.monitorwater.org/.
“It is a very interesting programme as we can do all the testing ourselves and I have gained more in-depth knowledge about importance of river and water. I found the activities are very fun and I will share it with my friend and family,” said Khairul Akmal Bin Khairulanwar, student from SMK Kelana Jaya.
Meanwhile, Puan Noordini, teacher of SMK Kelana Jaya said, “This is a very good opportunity for the students to truly understand the importance of caring for our river and water. I believe the children have gotten the message of caring for our water resources.” “We are happy to see that Salcon is taking the initiative to educate the younger generation,” she added.
“Salcon has been monitoring the river water quality at Sg. Penchala since 2012 and throughout these years, we have found Sg. Penchala to be in good health,” said Ms. Chern Meng Gaik, General Manager – Corporate of Salcon Berhad.
“We are glad to be able to contribute our on-going efforts to this global initiative via the EarthEcho Water Challenge, and we are proud that apart from educating the children in appreciating our water resources, we also play a role to monitoring and assessing the health of the river,” she added.
Schools around Klang valley are invited to participate in the SSWP and to date, the programme has benefitted more than 40 schools and 1,800 children since its inception in 2010 and has garnered good support and response from teachers and students. Under the guidance of WWP facilitators, students mastered the skills and technique of conducting river and water testing.
Salcon measures the effectiveness of the programme through a pre and post water knowledge evaluation. The evaluation result has shown that the students’ understanding on water knowledge has increased significantly after conducting the activities by themselves.