Ethical issues in environmental management and resource conservation from Islamic perspective

Environmental philosophy based on the Qur'an and Prophetic Traditions (Sunnah) is that there is a fundamental link and interdependency between all natural elements which is based on the premise that if man abuses or exhausts one element, the natural world as a whole will suffer direct consequences. The holistic principle of environmental management as applied by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is based on three important principles made up of the concepts of tawhid (unity), khilafah (stewardship) and amanah (trustworthy). The Islamic approach to maintaining a balance bet\veen material development and responsibility will be explored as applied in resource conservation and sustainability. The utilization of all natural resources - land, water, air, fire (energy)- forests, oceans - are considered the right and the joint property of the entire humankind and all creation of Allah on earth. Since Man is Khalifatullah (the vicegerent of Allah) on earth, he should take every precaution to ensure the interests and rights of others, and regard his mastery over his allotted piece of land as a joint Ownership with the next generation. Furthermore the Islamic nation has been tenned as (1/111111atan lvasatan) the moderate nation in the Qur'an, a nation that avoids excesses in all things. Thus, Muslims in particular have to utilize the resources provide on earth by Allah (S WT) responsibly for their benefit, honestly maintain and preserve it- use it considerately and moderately, and pass it on to future generations in an excellent condition

Prediction of optimal adsorption of aqueous phenol removal with oil palm empty fruit bunch activated carbon using Artificial Neural Network (ANN)

Adsorption process has an edge in wastewater treatment over other techniques due to low initial cost, sludge free, ease of operation and insensitivity to toxic substance. It is a very essential part in the wastewater treatment process chain. It involves both physical and chemical phenomena and hence susceptible to high percentage of errors due to human factor, variation in the quality as well as chemical/physical characteristics of raw materials used. In order to reduce this percentage error and obtain optimal treatment efficiency, an intelligent method of predicting optimal adsorption capacity based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was proposed. Production of Powdered Activation Carbon PAC from processed oil palm empty fruit bunches, EFB was used as adsorbent. Since production of PAC is affected by many parameters, such as CO2 gas flow rate, activation time and activation temperature. Adsorption design was carried out using all these parameters, production results were analyzed. ANN was used to forecast optimal adsorption capacity for aqueous phenol removal. Such ANN based system will be a useful method to address most errors common in wastewater treatment cause by human factors. Experimental results on real data show that the newly developed system is able to accurately predict the optimal adsorption capacity needed in wastewater treatment plant. The Regression and correlation between of optimal adsorption capacity for experimental result and ANN estimation model is 0.9999 of 1.000. This high Correlation of coefficient indicates that the ANN model is a perfect match

The impact of economic development on water pollution: trends and policy actions in Malaysia

The paper examines the impact of development activities on water pollution in Malaysia. Hence, the main objective of this paper is not just to examine the trends of development-induced water pollution around the region of the country but to know where the problems are and the policy measures taken by the government. It evaluates the probable causative relationship between problems introduced due to technology employed in water pollution control and governmental policy measures. It examines the relationship between development indicators as sources of pollution and polluted rivers over a period of 12 years. The findings of the paper have shown that despite the policy enforcement actions against the identified sources of water pollution, all the three development indicators (chosen based on those identified sources) still accounted for high percentage of river pollution in Malaysia. The findings of the paper were used to identify the central fact of the location of the problem. Some crucial conclusions of where the problems likely to be, as reflected in the findings, are: (a) the issue of interactive-effects between pollutants that many policy-makers are not aware of. This is when policy measures concentrate only on one source of water pollution; (b) the enforcement strength and/or effectiveness of policy measures themselves; (c) financial constraints to invest in appropriate technology especially sewerage systems for controlling human source of water pollution in the country; as well as those confronting small polluting industries (d) finally, lack of cooperation between government and private business firms to comply with regulatory policies for water pollution control

Chemical treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) from aerated pond

The production of palm oil results in the generation of huge quantities of polluting wastewater commonly known as Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME). POME is a thick brownish liquid that contains high amount of total solids, oil and grease, chemical oxidation demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and if not properly treated, can disrupt the natural ecosystem and pose a serious threat to human health. However, with the stringent regulations on discharge of waste into the environment, there is need to retrofit the existing biological system by adding tertiary treatment in form of coagulation to remove contaminants in order to meet the current discharge regulations. This paper compares the use of coagulants ferric chloride and aluminium sulphate to reduce turbidity that is associated with the effluent. Series of batch coagulation and flocculation processes with ferric chloride and aluminum sulphate under different conditions, i.e. dosage and pH were conducted in order to determine their optimum conditions. Polyacrylamide was used as coagulant aid and its optimum dose was also determined. The result of the coagulation process showed that ferric chloride gave a better reduction of turbidity at dosage of 100mg/L, pH of 8 and with polyacrylamide (coagulant aid) dose of 100mg/L than alum

Tertiary treatment of biologically treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) using UF membrane system: effect of MWCO and transmembrane pressure

This study evaluate the performance of ultrafiltration UF membrane system in the treatment of biologically treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) by varying the effects of transmembrane pressure and using different molecular weight cut-off (MWCO). Flat sheet polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration membrane of molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) 1 kDa and 5 kDa were used in this study. Biologically treated POME was subjected to physical pretreatment processes, consisting of coagulation and adsorption to remove total suspended solids. Transmembrane pressure was varied between 0.5 bar to 1.5 bar and the performance of these membrane systems were assessed in terms of reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD), color and turbidity in POME. Pretreatment processes which consist of coagulation and adsorption showed remarkable results in reducing COD, color and turbidity up to 92.8 %, 99.3 % and 99.9 % respectively. At transmembrane pressure 0.5 bar, more reduction in COD, colour and turbidity were observed. The smallest MWCO of the membrane at transmembrane pressure 0.5 bar gave a better reduction of pollutants from the pretreated POME. The increasing transmembrane pressure leads to a corresponding increase in permeate flux which starts to level off at higher transmembrane pressures. The application of membrane separation technology to treat biologically treated POME has improved the quality of the final effluent discharged. The UF membrane plays very important role in reducing pollutants present in biologically treated POME

Kinetics of Water Disinfection with Moringa Oleifera Seeds Extract

Moringa seeds extract was prepared using de-fatted seed cake and aqueous extraction. One mL of Moringa extract was added to 10mL of the cell cultures and incubated for 0, 30min, 60min, 90min, and 120min without agitation. Cell survival was assessed by making dilution series of bacterial suspensions obtained after each incubation period, plating on non-selective LB medium agar dishes, and incubating for 48hours at 37oC. Duplicates were made of every individual assay. Colonies were counted on dishes and the cell survival ratio was estimated by comparison to a control experiment where no Moring extract was added (0 min incubation time). Pseudo-first-order kinetics was fitted to the data. The log-inactivation of the “viable” organisms at time t (Nt) divided by the number of “viable” organisms at time zero (N0) was plotted as a function of chemical dose, Ct (mg min L -1). The coefficient of specific lethality, ?cw, was determined by linear regression using MINITAB for Windows Release 11.2 32Bit. A kinetic model was developed for the application of Moringa Oleifera seeds extract in water disinfection. The coefficient of specific lethality (?cw) was determined as 3.76 L mg-1 min-1 for E.Coli inactivation using Moringa Oleifera seeds extracts. The mode of attack of the Moringa seeds extract on the E.Coli cell was explained as by rupturing the cell and damaging the intercellular components, when water dips in to the cell which causes it to swell more and burst leading to death. Keywords: Moringa Oleifera, Seed Extract, Antimicrobial Activity, Disinfection Kinetics

Reuse potential of ablution water from IIUM masjid

A significant amount of water is required daily for IIUM Masjid, which can accommodate at least about 9000 people during the special prayer times. Unfortunately, the water used for ablution is discharged directly to the drain without any plan to recycle and reuse. Quantity and quality of the used water after ablution is determined in this study. Laboratory tests have indicated that, the used ablution water is not much polluted and can be easily recycled and reused for general cleaning and landscaping purpose, after sand filtration. On the other hand, treatment and reuse of commercial greywater would be too expensive in the contexts of Malaysian climate, where the rain-fed water is sufficiently available. It is realised that a low maintenance treatment system can be constructed to store, treat and reuse ablution water from the Masjid. The treated water can easily be used for the landscaping and toilet flushing activities, which will reduce the water consumption in the university