Actual Status Assessment and Prediction of the Musi River Water Quality, Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Water pollution in rivers is still a crucial problem for countries that use river water as the primary water source. This study aimed to determine the water quality of the Musi river and the content of heavy metals in water, sediment and mussels and to predict the water quality of the Musi river in the next five years. Water samples were taken from 18 stations (sampling points) from upstream to downstream to be checked physically, chemically and biologically. Prediction of river water quality is made using QUAL2Kw software. The research results show that Musi River water is categorized as lightly polluted with concentrations of TSS and DO that have passed the threshold. Heavy metals such as Pb and Cr in river water have also passed the quality standard. Fe, Mn, and Zn concentrations are pretty high in the sediment. While in mussels, the metals measured were Fe, Cu, and Zn. The prediction results reveal that several values of river quality parameters will pass the threshold value with the same pattern tendency from each station.

Keywords

• heavy metals
• water pollution
• sedimentation
• pollution index
• quality status