| Summary: | Landuse of Merawu Watershed in Banjarnegara Regency is dominated
by agricultural land. Vegetables known as leading commodities in this region are
corn, carrot, cabbage, potato, rice, etc. Pollution from agricultural activities causes
a lot of environmental problems. Fertilization that does not follow the
recommendation is one of pollution causes in the river body. Excessive
fertilization will dissolve in water due to surface water leaching and runoff. The
presence of irrigation and drainage channels that flow directly to the river body
can cause a decrease in the water quality. The objectives of this research are 1)
Analyzing the water quality of Merawu River 2) Examining the use of fertilizers
by farmers which gives an impact to the water quality of Merawu River 3)
Recommending strategies to control pollution in Merawu River as the impact of
fertilizers use by farmers.
Water Quality of Merawu River was discovered by laboratory analysis.
Parameters analyzed were biological parameters (total coliform), physics
(temperature, TSS) and chemical (pH, Iron, Copper, Nitrate, Sulfate, Phosphate,
and total Potassium). The result of the analysis was compared to the standard
reference of river water quality following the applicable regulations, i.e
government regulation about water quality standard no.82 in 2001. The next step
used to determine the water quality status is Pollution Index Method. The use of
fertilizers by the farmers was discovered by interviewing the active farmers using
fertilizers in four districts, namely Batur, Pejawaran, Wanayasa, and Pagentan.
The result of this study is the parameters that exceed quality standards i.e
TSS, iron, copper, nitrate, phosphate, and total coliform. In general, water quality
status of Merawu River can be classified as light-polluted to medium-polluted
with pollution index value from upstream to downstream increases from 1.18 to
7.62. Farmers� attitudes and behaviors in using fertilizers in study area affect the
water quality of Merawu River. Farmer awareness and continuous monitoring
from the government need to be improved so that management and control of
Merawu River pollution can be realized.
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