Preliminary Experiment of Gravel Contact Oxidation Process in the Tropics

Natural rivers have water purification functions called Gravel Contact Oxidation Process, which decontaminate river water by biological absorption, oxidation and degradation on riverbed gravels. This function has been developed and applied to many small/medium-sized urban rivers in Japan as one of the direct river water purification methods. However the method hasn't been verified in the tropics, which have different climate conditions and river characteristics. A preliminary experiment carried out at a polluted urban tributary in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where an increasing attention has been paid to river environment, showed a good applicability to the tropical conditions as a technically practical water purification measure with some maintenance cares for sludge management.