Displaying all 11 publications

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  1. Wan Mohtar WHM, Nawang SAB, Abdul Maulud KN, Benson YA, Azhary WAHWM
    Sci Total Environ, 2017 Nov 15;598:525-537.
    PMID: 28454026 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.093
    This study investigates the textural characteristics of sediments collected at eroded and deposited areas of highly severed eroded coastline of Batu Pahat, Malaysia. Samples were taken from systematically selected 23 locations along the 67km stretch of coastline and are extended to the fluvial sediments of the main river of Batu Pahat. Grain size distribution analysis was conducted to identify its textural characteristics and associated sedimentary transport behaviours. Sediments obtained along the coastline were fine-grained material with averaged mean size of 7.25 ϕ, poorly sorted, positively skewed and has wide distributions. Samples from eroded and deposition regions displayed no distinctive characteristics and exhibited similar profiles. The high energy condition transported the sediments as suspension, mostly as pelagic and the sediments were deposited as shallow marine and agitated deposits. The fluvial sediments of up to 3km into the river have particularly similar profile of textural characteristics with the neighbouring marine sediments from the river mouth. Profiles were similar with marine sediments about 3km opposite the main current and can go up to 10km along the current of Malacca Straits.
  2. Wan Mohtar WHM, Abdul Maulud KN, Muhammad NS, Sharil S, Yaseen ZM
    Environ Pollut, 2019 May;248:133-144.
    PMID: 30784832 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.02.011
    Malaysia depends heavily on rivers as a source for water supply, irrigation, and sustaining the livelihood of local communities. The evolution of land use in urban areas due to rapid development and the continuous problem of illegal discharge have had a serious adverse impact on the health of the country's waterways. Klang River requires extensive rehabilitation and remediation before its water could be utilised for a variety of purposes. A reliable and rigorous remediation work plan is needed to identify the sources and locations of streams that are constantly polluted. This study attempts to investigate the feasibility of utilising a temporal and spatial risk quotient (RQ) based analysis to make an accurate assessment of the current condition of the tributaries in the Klang River catchment area. The study relies on existing data sets on Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), and Ammonia (NH3) to evaluate the water quality at thirty strategic locations. Analysis of ammonia pollution is not only based on the limit established for river health but was expanded to include the feasibility of using the water for water intake, recreational activities, and sustaining fish population. The temporal health of Klang River was evaluated using the Risk Matrix Approach (RMA) based on the frequency of RQ > 1 and associated colour-coded hazard impacts. By using the developed RMA, the hazard level for each parameter at each location was assessed and individually mapped using Geographic Information System (GIS). The developed risk hazard mapping has high potential as one of the essential tools in making decisions for a cost-effective river restoration and rehabilitation.
  3. Hameed MM, Mohd Razali SF, Wan Mohtar WHM, Ahmad Alsaydalani MO, Yaseen ZM
    Heliyon, 2024 Jan 15;10(1):e22942.
    PMID: 38187234 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22942
    Drought is a hazardous natural disaster that can negatively affect the environment, water resources, agriculture, and the economy. Precise drought forecasting and trend assessment are essential for water management to reduce the detrimental effects of drought. However, some existing drought modeling techniques have limitations that hinder precise forecasting, necessitating the exploration of suitable approaches. This study examines two forecasting models, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and a hybrid model integrating regularized extreme learning machine and Snake algorithm, to forecast hydrological droughts for one to six months in advance. Using the Multivariate Standardized Streamflow Index (MSSI) computed from 58 years of streamflow data for two drier Malaysian stations, the models forecast droughts and were compared to classical models such as gradient boosting regression and K-nearest model for validation purposes. The RELM-SO model outperformed other models for forecasting one month ahead at station S1, with lower root mean square error (RMSE = 0.1453), mean absolute error (MAE = 0.1164), and a higher Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency index (NSE = 0.9012) and Willmott index (WI = 0.9966). Similarly, at station S2, the hybrid model had lower (RMSE = 0.1211 and MAE = 0.0909), and higher (NSE = 0.8941 and WI = 0.9960), indicating improved accuracy compared to comparable models. Due to significant autocorrelation in the drought data, traditional statistical metrics may be inadequate for selecting the optimal model. Therefore, this study introduced a novel parameter to evaluate the model's effectiveness in accurately capturing the turning points in the data. Accordingly, the hybrid model significantly improved forecast accuracy from 19.32 % to 21.52 % when compared with LSTM. Besides, the reliability analysis showed that the hybrid model was the most accurate for providing long-term forecasts. Additionally, innovative trend analysis, an effective method, was used to analyze hydrological drought trends. The study revealed that October, November, and December experienced higher occurrences of drought than other months. This research advances accurate drought forecasting and trend assessment, providing valuable insights for water management and decision-making in drought-prone regions.
  4. Mohd Hanafiah Z, Wan Mohtar WHM, Abu Hasan H, Jensen HS, Klaus A, Wan-Mohtar WAAQI
    Sci Rep, 2019 11 06;9(1):16109.
    PMID: 31695087 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52493-y
    The fluctuation of domestic wastewater characteristic inhibits the current conventional microbial-based treatment. The bioremediation fungi has received attention and reported to be an effective alternative to treat industrial wastewater. Similar efficient performance is envisaged for domestic wastewater whereby assessed performance of fungi for varying carbon-to-nitrogen ratios in domestic wastewater is crucial. Thus, the performance of pre-grown wild-Serbian Ganoderma lucidum mycelial pellets (GLMPs) was evaluated on four different synthetic domestic wastewaters under different conditions of initial pH (pH 4, 5, and 7) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) to nitrogen (COD/N) ratio of 3.6:1, 7.1:1, 14.2:1, and 17.8:1 (C3.6N1, C7.1N1, C14.2N1, and C17.8N1). The COD/N ratios with a constant concentration of ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) were chosen on the basis of the urban domestic wastewater characteristics sampled at the inlet basin of a sewage treatment plant (STP). The parameters of pH, COD, and NH3-N were measured periodically during the experiment. The wild-Serbian GLMPs efficiently removed the pollutants from the synthetic sewage. The COD/N ratio of C17.8N1 wastewater had the best COD and NH3-N removal, as compared to the lower COD/N ratio, and the shortest treatment time was obtained in an acidic environment at pH 4. The highest percentage for COD and NH3-N removal achieved was 96.0% and 93.2%, respectively. The results proved that the mycelium of GLMP has high potential in treating domestic wastewater, particularly at high organic content as a naturally sustainable bioremediation system.
  5. Zahuri AA, Wan Mohtar WHM, Hanafiah ZM, Abdul Patah MF, Show PL, Gafforov Y, et al.
    Mol Biotechnol, 2024 Jan 29.
    PMID: 38286973 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-023-01035-z
    In the world of fast fashion, textile industries are blooming rapidly to meet the consumer's demands. However, vast amounts of wastewater have been constantly produced, and it is becoming a serious environmental problem in the waterways. Although the technology for treating textile wastewater has been well reported and established, more sustainable efforts have taken the attention nowadays. Through the use of living Malaysian Ganoderma lucidum mycelial pellets (GL) and activated dolomite (AD) in the treatment system, the study explores the synergy between biosorption and physisorption as alternative treatment for textile wastewater. In the current work, mixture of GL premixed with AD (50:50; v/v) is used to treat industrial textile wastewater. The morphology, adsorption characteristics, and antibacterial activity of the adsorbents were studied. The mixture of adsorbents is capable of removing colours by 77.8% and reducing chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 75% within 48 h contact. Furthermore, the kinetic and adsorption had been studied and follow the pseudo-first-order kinetic model while both adsorption of Langmuir and Freundlich model was deduced from the treatment. In addition, antimicrobial activities from the treatment potentially reduced 10 × 101 CFU/mL after 48 h. The synergistic treatment by Ganoderma lucidum mycelial pellets and activated dolomite has immense potential in future wastewater treatment technology to obtain cleaner water.
  6. Abd Manan TSB, Beddu S, Khan T, Wan Mohtar WHM, Sarwono A, Jusoh H, et al.
    MethodsX, 2019;6:1701-1705.
    PMID: 31388505 DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2019.07.011
    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic compounds, composed of two or more fused benzene rings and abundantly found in mixed-use areas. Mixed-use areas consist of dense population, urbanization, industrial and agricultural activities. River pollution are common in mixed-use areas and 98% of Malaysia's fresh water supply originates from surface water. The biological degradation, adsorption and advanced oxidation process were documented as the available PAHs treatment for water. To date, the application of the photo-Fenton oxidation process has been reported for the treatment of PAHs from contaminated soil (review paper), landfill leachate, municipal solid waste leachate, sanitary landfill leachate, aniline wastewater, ammunition wastewater and saline aqueous solutions. As for potable water, the application of Fenton reagent was aided with photo treatment or electrolysis not focusing on PAHs removal. •The presented MethodsX was conducted for PAHs degradation analysis in potable water samples using photo-Fenton oxidation process.•The designed reactor for batch experiment is presented.•The batch experiment consists of parameters like concentration of 17 USEPA-PAHs in the prepared aqueous solution (fixed variable), reaction time, pH and molarity ratio of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2): ferrous sulfate (FeSO4).
  7. Beddu S, Abd Manan TSB, Zainoodin MM, Khan T, Wan Mohtar WHM, Nurika O, et al.
    Data Brief, 2020 Aug;31:105843.
    PMID: 32596432 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105843
    Coal combustion by-products (CCPs) (i.e. fly (FA) and bottom (BA) ashes) generated by power plants contain heavy metals. This research presents leaching properties of coal ashes (FA and BA) collected from Jimah coal-fired power station, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan using USEPA standard methods namely toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), and synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP). Heavy metals like lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and arsenic (As) were quantified using atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). The leached of heavy metals fluxes were Cu < Zn < Pb < As. As leached the most whilst indicating of possible contamination from As. Overall, the ranges of leached concentration were adhered to permissible limits of hazardous waste criteria for metal (Pb and As) and industrial effluent (Zn and Cu). The presented data has potential reuse as reference for the coal ash concrete mixed design application in construction industries.
  8. Mohd Hanafiah Z, Wan Mohtar WHM, Abd Manan TSB, Bachi' NA, Abdullah NA, Abd Hamid HH, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2022 Jan;287(Pt 2):132134.
    PMID: 34517236 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132134
    The water stream has been reported to contain non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), released from households and premises through discharge from Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). This research identifies commonly consumed NSAIDs namely ibuprofen (IBU), diclofenac (DIC), ketoprofen (KET) and naproxen (NAP) in the influent wastewater from two urban catchments (i.e. 2 STPs). We expand our focus to assess the efficiency of monomer (C18) and dimer (HLB) types of sorbents in the solid phase extraction method followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis and optimize model prediction of NSAIDs in the influent wastewater using I-Optimal design. The ecological risk assessment of the NSAIDs was evaluated. The HLB produced reliable analysis for all NSAIDs under study (STP1: 6.7 × 10-3 mg L-1 to 2.21 × 10-1 mg L-1, STP2: 1.40 × 10-4 mg L-1 to 9.72 × 10-2 mg L-1). The C18 however, selective to NAP. Based on the Pearson proximity matrices, the DICHLB can be a good indicator for IBUHLB (0.565), NAPC18 (0.721), NAPHLB (0.566), and KETHLB (0.747). The optimized model prediction for KET and NAP based on DIC are successfully validated. The risk quotients (RQ) values of NSAIDs were classified as high (RQ > 1), medium (RQ, 0.1-1) and low (RQ, 0.01-0.1) risks. The optimized models are beneficial for major NSAIDs (KET and NAP) monitoring in the influent wastewater of urban domestic area. An upgrade on the existing wastewater treatment infrastructure is recommended to counteract current water security situation.
  9. Mohd Hanafiah Z, Wan Mohtar WHM, Abd Manan TS, Bachi NA, Abu Tahrim N, Abd Hamid HH, et al.
    PeerJ, 2023;11:e14719.
    PMID: 36748091 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14719
    The environmental fate of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the urban water cycle is still uncertain and their status is mainly assessed based on specific water components and information on human risk assessments. This study (a) explores the environmental fate of NSAIDs (ibuprofen, IBU; naproxen, NAP; ketoprofen, KET; diazepam, DIA; and diclofenac, DIC) in the urban water cycle, including wastewater, river, and treated water via gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GCMS), (b) assesses the efficiency of reducing the targeted NSAIDs in sewage treatment plant (STP) using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and (c) evaluates the ecological risk assessment of these drugs in the urban water cycle via teratogenic index (TI) and risk quotient (RQ). The primary receptor of contaminants comes from urban areas, as a high concentration of NSAIDs is detected (ranging from 5.87 × 103 to 7.18 × 104 ng/L). The percentage of NSAIDs removal in STP ranged from 25.6% to 92.3%. The NAP and KET were still detected at trace levels in treated water, indicating the persistent presence in the water cycle. The TI values for NAP and DIA (influent and effluent) were more than 1, showing a risk of a teratogenic effect. The IBU, KET, and DIC had values of less than 1, indicating the risk of lethal embryo effects. The NAP and DIA can be classified as Human Pregnancy Category C (2.1 > TI ≥ 0.76). This work proved that these drugs exist in the current urban water cycle, which could induce adverse effects on humans and the environment (RQ in high and low-risk categories). Therefore, they should be minimized, if not eliminated, from the primary sources of the pollutant (i.e., STPs). These pollutants should be considered a priority to be monitored, given focus to, and listed in the guideline due to their persistent presence in the urban water cycle.
  10. Wan Mohtar WHM, Wan-Mohtar WAAQI, Zahuri AA, Ibrahim MF, Show PL, Ilham Z, et al.
    Bioengineered, 2022;13(7-12):14903-14935.
    PMID: 37105672 DOI: 10.1080/21655979.2023.2184785
    Fungal biomass is the future's feedstock. Non-septate Ascomycetes and septate Basidiomycetes, famously known as mushrooms, are sources of fungal biomass. Fungal biomass, which on averagely comprises about 34% protein and 45% carbohydrate, can be cultivated in bioreactors to produce affordable, safe, nontoxic, and consistent biomass quality. Fungal-based technologies are seen as attractive, safer alternatives, either substituting or complementing the existing standard technology. Water and wastewater treatment, food and feed, green technology, innovative designs in buildings, enzyme technology, potential health benefits, and wealth production are the key sectors that successfully reported high-efficiency performances of fungal applications. This paper reviews the latest technical know-how, methods, and performance of fungal adaptation in those sectors. Excellent performance was reported indicating high potential for fungi utilization, particularly in the sectors, yet to be utilized and improved on the existing fungal-based applications. The expansion of fungal biomass in the industrial-scale application for the sustainability of earth and human well-being is in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
  11. Abd Manan TSB, Khan T, Wan Mohtar WHM, Beddu S, Mohd Kamal NL, Yavari S, et al.
    Data Brief, 2020 Jun;30:105518.
    PMID: 32382595 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105518
    Perak River basin is in Perak state of Peninsular Malaysia. In this research, the river stretch serves as water intake for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes in Perak Tengah, Hilir Perak and Manjung regions. It is located in mixed use area whilst exposing the river to anthropogenic elements. The sampling locations were conducted at selected points of Perak River namely Tanjung Belanja Bridge (TBB), Water Treatment Plant Parit (WTPP), Parit Town discharge (PTD), Water Treatment Plant Senin (WTPS) and Water Treatment Plant Kepayang (WTPK). The existence of aromatic hydrocarbons in freshwater samples was pre-assessed via qualification analysis; specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA254) method at 254 nm of wavelength. The SUVA dataset were 48.38 L/mg-m (TBB), 50.54 L/mg-m (WTPP), 8.05 L/mg-m (PTD), 85.75 L/mg-m (WTPS) and 217.39 L/mg-m (WTPK). The SUVA254 values of fresh water at the river basin have exceeded the water quality standards value equivalent to 2.0 L/mg-m permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency of United States. The exceeding values were an indication of a large portion of aromatic compounds in the water. Qualification analyses evident the existence of water pollutants at treacherous concentrations for public health in freshwater samples of Perak River basin. Thus, this research has presented important findings towards further research and countermeasure for a better alternative of water treatment in Malaysia.
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