Alexander Szabo and Oscar Engle - Svenskt Vatten

1. Introduction
1.2 Background
Malaysia is developing rapidly and the government has set up goals for becoming a fully
developed country by 2020. This will put more strains on the environment and the keyword is
therefore sustainable development (Liew, 2008). With an increasing population and a more waterdemanding
society more waste water is produced. Waste water can have a negative impact on the
population, the economy and the environment if it is not managed in a wise way. Therefore
Malaysia is trying to develop a system for waste water handling which is both sustainable and
suitable for the country’s specific conditions. The complexities and unique environment of
Malaysia prevent the adoption of a “carbon copy” development that has been successful in other
countries.
Malaysia is considered to be a good case study example for other developing countries because of
its many experiences with different waste water solutions. The government and the authorities
have tried to implement decentralized on-site systems such as septic tanks and latrines in rural
and semirural areas. Other implemented systems have been centralized conventional treatment
plants in urban areas (Ujang & Henze, 2006). The development of institutions and financial
solutions for waste water systems in Malaysia could also serve as a good study example for many
developing countries.
The first sewerage policy in Malaysia was created during the British occupation at the end of the
19 th century. During this period the so-called Sanitary Boards were organized in Malaysia’s major
cities and provided services like water supply, latrines, irrigation etc. The Boards were however
only responsible for waste water and sanitary problems concerning British settlers (Ujang &
Henze, 2006). After Independence in 1957, sewerage facilities were administrated by the
Environmental Health and Engineering unit. The unit belonged to the Ministry of Health created
in the 1960’s (Ujang & Henze, 2006). The unit initiated a successful program in which pour-flush
latrines were implemented in rural and semirural areas. A pour-flush toilet utilize small amounts
of water (around 2-3 litres) to pour down human excreta deposit in a pit latrine (UNEP, n.d.). The
excreta are poured down into a tank where the organic material is decomposed. The sludge
collected in the tank has to be emptied on a regular basis.
Pour-flushed toilets were also installed in urban areas but in these areas the unit tried to adopt a
more conventional sewage approach found in the industrialized world. Due to a lack of finances
and a well developed national framework for waste water management the implementation was
slow. In many cases the drawings and plans for the treatment plants remained on the bookshelves.
A significant step in Malaysia’s waste water management was taken in 1974 when the
government established the Environmental Quality Act which was the first national legal
framework for regulating the quality of effluent water from sewage and industries (Ujang &
Henze, 2006). In 1980 the Malaysian Parliament implemented a new law where developers of
new housing areas with more than 30 houses were required to provide proper sewage treatment. It
was favored to keep the new treatment facilities as simple as possible. In order to keep the
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