The ratio of connected houses to the sewerage system was 5 per cent in 1993, but it drastically increased to about 70% in 2010. Furthermore, the number of wastewater treatment plants that conform to the standards for discharged effluent have increased yearly. In 2006, 69% of
wastewater treatment plants met the BOD standard and 88% of them complied with the SS standard. Table 13 shows the classification of public and private wastewater systems that treat grey and black water through proper treatment facilities or septic tanks.
Table 13: Classification of wastewater treatment facilities in the Malay Peninsula (Country Sanitation Assessment in Malaysia, JSC 2011) Wastewater treatment facilities
Quantity/Length
Regional STPs (Public) Multipoint STPs (Public) Pumping Stations (PS) Private STPs Communal Septic Tanks (CST) Individual Septic Tanks (IST) Pour flush (PF) Sludge Treatment Facilities (STF) Sewer Networks (km)
In moving forward to the reconstruction, expansion and new implementation of wastewater treatment facilities, in accordance with the Sewerage Catchment Strategy, it can be estimated that the activated sludge process, or similar processes that can be easily modified to achieve advanced treatment, would prevail. By doing so, septic tanks are expected to gradually decrease in urban areas.
Population equivalent (PE) 74
5,600,000
5,148
12,300,000
668
3,600,000
3,415*
2,000,000*
3,635
434,000
1,100,000
5,500,000
761,000
3,800,000
40
-
14,000
-
the country, which covers a population equivalent (PE) of 19,500,000 people (2010). In the past, a communal septic tank used for an apartment was regarded as a wastewater treatment plant, but it now fell under the same category as an individual household septic tank. IWK reported the characteristics of raw wastewater as follows : 200 mg/l < BOD < 400 mg/l and 200 mg/l < SS <350 mg/l. Table 14 below shows the quality of wastewater treated by different treatment processes.
IWK operates and maintains about 5,800 wastewater treatment facilities all over
Study on the Current Issues and Needs for Water Supply and Wastewater Management in Malaysia
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