14.5.2 Monitoring the health of aquatic ecosystems)

Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) monitors the health of aquatic ecosystems associated with the University. In 2025, the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, together with the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), surveyed freshwater snail diversity and water quality along Saen Saeb Canal, the urban waterway that runs beside SWU Prasarnmit Campus. At Ongkharak Campus, water samples from the Ho Phra water body, where campus water collects before it is released to public canals, were analysed for water quality. Bodhivijjalaya College also continued its long-term water quality monitoring in the Phra Prong River, and Faculty of Science researchers monitored heavy-metal contamination in the Mae Tao Creek area of Mae Sot District. Together, this monitoring of local aquatic ecosystems around and near the campuses provides data on the health of these ecosystems. The evidence is publicly available on the Faculty of Science SDGs website.

Freshwater Snail Diversity and Water Quality Survey in Saen Saeb Canal

From January to April 2025, Asst. Prof. Dr. Thanit Siriboon of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, and AFRIMS surveyed the diversity and distribution of freshwater snails at sampling sites along Saen Saeb Canal. The canal runs beside SWU Prasarnmit Campus and is one of the main waterways in Bangkok's canal network.

The team collected freshwater snails from the banks and bed of the canal, down to the canal mouth, to study which species occur at each site and how they are distributed. Water samples were also collected at each site to study the environmental factors and water quality.

Freshwater snails live on the bottom of water bodies and respond to changes in their habitat and in water quality, and some species are intermediate hosts of parasites of medical importance. Data on snail diversity, combined with water quality data, therefore show the health of the canal ecosystem. The results provide baseline data for conserving the aquatic environment and for monitoring the health of urban waterways near the University, and contribute to the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. The images below show the survey team collecting freshwater snails and water samples along Saen Saeb Canal and freshwater snails found during the survey.

Source: https://science.swu.ac.th/sdgs/monitoring-the-health-of-aquatic-ecosystems/

Water Quality Monitoring at the Ho Phra Water Body, Ongkharak Campus

The Ho Phra water body at Ongkharak Campus is where campus water collects before it is released to public canals. In 2025 (B.E. 2568), students of the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Physical Education, Ongkharak Campus, collected water samples at Ho Phra for quality analysis. The samples were analysed for temperature (26 °C), pH (8), dissolved oxygen (DO, 10.7 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, 14 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD, 57.5 mg/L), ammonia (1.4 mg/L), organic nitrogen (23.54 mg/L), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (24.94 mg/L), phosphate (0.076 mg/L), total solids (583 mg/L) and total dissolved solids (523 mg/L). The photographs below show the students collecting samples, followed by the analysis results.

Long-term Water Quality Monitoring in the Phra Prong River

Since 2023, Bodhivijjalaya College has run a long-term project on the "Impacts of Land Use Management on Riparian Ecosystems along the Phra Prong Watershed, Eastern Thailand". The team measures water quality in the Phra Prong River twice a year, in the dry season (April) and the rainy season (August), at sites in four land-use types: riparian forest, eucalyptus plantation, sugarcane fields and agroforestry. Indicators include water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), transparency, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH, arsenic and zinc, and the results are compared with national surface water quality standards. Most parameters are within acceptable ranges, with seasonal differences in transparency, arsenic and zinc, and DO below the standard at some sites in the dry season. The monitoring is combined with surveys of local communities' water use and perceptions of riparian forests. The photographs below show water quality sampling in the Phra Prong River by the research team.

Heavy-metal Monitoring in the Mae Tao Creek Area, Mae Sot District

Researchers of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, also monitor heavy-metal contamination in the Mae Tao Creek area of Mae Sot District, Tak Province. During fieldwork on 4–6 May 2025, the team collected sediment, soil and vegetation samples to assess contamination and ecosystem conditions, and presented its research on using biochar to reduce cadmium uptake by Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) grown in contaminated saline soil at the Royal Initiative Project for Learning Promotion on Environmental Conservation and Restoration in Mae Sot.

Source: https://science.swu.ac.th/sdgs/minimising-alteration/