IT was a fun day indeed for the students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Kelana, when they got the chance to hurl mud balls into a lake at Kelana Jaya Park recently. Motorola employees and 27 pupils from the school’s Smart Rangers threw 1,100 effective microorganism (EM) mud balls into Lake 4, in a bid to cleanse and conserve the water ecosystem.
The mud balls were prepared earlier during a workshop and comprised of soil, fermented rice bran and EM solution.
The mud balls are part of a three-month pilot programme which will see a further 2,200 mud balls thrown into the lake over the next two months. Prior to the introduction of mud balls, EM solution was poured directly into the lake to further aid the purification process.
According to C. K. Chung, chief executive officer of MicroGreen Group of companies, one mud ball is needed for every one square metre and the size of Lake 4 is 1,100 square meters. The mud ball works on a delayed release basis, as the water dissolves the mud, slowly releasing the EM solution into the water.
Senior technical officer for EM Research Organisation (EMRO), Yasushi Nishibuchi explained that the EM solution is a liquid containing many microorganisms, namely lactic acid bacteria, yeast and phototrophic
bacteria. It works by providing a boost to the microflora, which forms the base of the ecosystem. The water is
then purified through the food chain of plankton, small animals and fish.
Motorola Malaysia country president Mohd Rauf Nasir said at the conclusion of the threemonth pilot  programme, an evaluation will be conducted.
“We will assess the effectiveness and the improvement of water quality and will then decide on the next course of action,” he said. The event was organised as part of Motorola’s annual “Global Day of Service” programme, in partnership with MicroGreen, EMRO, Petaling Jaya Municipal Council landscape department and the
Global Environment Centre (GEC).
As part of the company’s Global Day of Service, Motorola offices in Asia Pacific carried out 100 projects involving 3,000 employees for the benefit of their respective local communities.