Pollution
Sungai Way is plagued by many issues related to solid and liquid waste pollution. Because it flows through residential, commercial and industrial areas, the river is heavily polluted with all sorts of solid and liquid waste. Factories release effluent directly into the river, and sometimes it does not meet the environmental standards as stated in the law. Coffee shops and car wash shops let all their dirty water flow into the drains which then flows directly into Sungai Way. Residents also use the river as a dumping ground and bags of rubbish can be seen in the river along with other bits and pieces of rubbish.

It was also observed that there was effluent coming from the IWK holding tanks. The river reeks of sewage and the river bed is covered in algae due to the presence of excess nutrients.

Lack of habitat
Apart from the bad water quality, there is also a lack of habitat for biodiversity to flourish in. Since the river is fully concrete-channelised, there are no natural river banks for aquatic plants to grow on and the river bed is also concrete and covered in algae. There are also few rocks and boulders within the channel for fish and other invertebrates to take refuge in. Along the river, there is only one small stretch that has abundant riparian vegetation. For most of its journey there are few trees to shade the river, and since the depth of water is quite shallow as well, the temperature of the water can get quite high.