Study on Water Pollution Impacts on Human Health from Water Usage based on Household’s Perception at Setiu River Basin

Abstract

Anthropogenic activity near the Setiu River basin can have a detrimental effect on people who use water in the area in terms of their body health. This study was important to assess the impact of river water degradation based on household perception so that the related parties can take intensive action to address this problem on the impact of river water degradation on human health. It involved 203 locals living along the Setiu River basin. Questionnaires were distributed and collected through face-to-face and "Google forms". The survey was conducted for four months from 1 January 2022 to 1 May 2022. All the respondents were locals who are Malaysian citizens. The data were obtained through questionnaires including questions based on a 5-point Likert scale and analysed by the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Software. Current water quality data was obtained through secondary data from the Department of Environment (DOE), Terengganu. The respondents' Income, Awareness, Knowledge, and Attitudes supported the hypothesis that demographic and socio-economic factors had significant differences in the risk perception for the impact of water pollution on human health. This study identified health issues related to the water pollution of Sungai Setiu among the residents from the questionnaire distributed by a regression analysis model.