Occurrence of Microplastic in surface water of Jatiluhur Reservoir

Environmental Engineering Study Programme, Institut Teknologi Bandung Jl. Ganesa No.10, Bandung, Indonesia. 40132

^* Corresponding author: endasembiring@yahoo.com

Abstract

Microplastic is generally defined as synthetic polymers which size less than 5 mm. Based on the latest research, microplastics pollutions have many impacts on the environment and human. Jatiluhur, as one of the biggest freshwater reservoir in Indonesia, has potential to be polluted by microplastics because the water source of this reservoir streamed from Citarum watershed. Citarum River is one of the most polluted river in Indonesia. To find the occurrence of microplastics and to facilitate future policies in order to overcome microplastic pollution which occurs in Jatiluhur Reservoir, a study of microplastic abundance is conducted. Primary data is obtained by using the volume reduced sampling method. Manta trawl is pulled beside a boat for 5 -15 minutes for each sample and flow meter installed onto the mouth of manta trawl to determine the towing distance in surface water. Microplastic abundance in surface water presented in the form of microplastics amounts per unit surface area. Furthermore, microplastic characteristics analyzed with visual analysis, particle density analysis, and polymer analysis using FTIR. Based on seven sampling locations, microplastics have found in Jatiluhur Reservoir ranging from 0.71×10⁴ – 4.59×10⁵ particles/km². The most type of microplastic found is fragmented polyethylene.