Malaysia: Water & Wastewater Treatment E-mail
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

As the country grows so does the problem of providing sufficient clean water to the population and until about five decades ago, Malaysia's waste disposal system was no different from what is still found in many developing countries. Malaysia’s 27 million people generate about six million tons of sewage every year, most of which is treated and released into the rivers. Proper treatment of sewerage is paramount as about 98% of Malaysia’s fresh water supply comes from surface water. Raw surface water becomes contaminated as a result of excessive and indiscriminate discharge of wastewater directly from households or factories to drains and into rivers with minimal or no treatment. This impairment of water quality greatly reduces the usability of the water for ordinary purposes or in a worst case scenario creates a hazard to public health through poisoning or the spread of diseases. To combat this, around 8,000 public sewage treatment plants, 500 network pumping stations, 17,000 kilometers of underground sewerage pipes and half a million household septic tanks connected to the sewers. In response to the increasing demand for a better and effective sanitation services, private companies were encouraged by the government to build wastewater management systems.

 

Malaysia: Water & Wastewater Treatment. By Randall Liew, Sept 2008. U.S. Commercial Service.

As an important component for the development of the country, high emphasis has been placed on the conservation and preservation of water. The enactment and enforcement of the SPAN Act in 2007 was to address all previous deficiencies and to provide a holistic approach to the planning and development, operation and maintenance, provision of water supply, the management, ownership and control of rivers and raw water sources, the provision, operation and maintenance of sewerage services, planning and development of new utility infrastructures for rural and urban areas, the coordination and integration of all such related services, regulating and licensing of water services operator and providers.

The water and wastewater sector offers companies with innovative and revolutionary technologies a very good prospect, as the new watchword of the ruling government is “A Caring Government” and in line with this, the 2009 Budget focused on the provision of clean water and good sanitation for all Malaysian. The government has budgeted to spend US$85.01 Million for the fiscal year of 2009 to upgrade and supply clean water to rural areas.

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