Alexander Szabo and Oscar Engle - Svenskt Vatten

6. Study Area
6.1 Climate
Johor Bahru lies in a tropical region very close to the equatorial line with temperatures ranging
between 21 to 32°C all year around. The climate is humid with an average relative humidity
around 90% (Richmond et al., 2007). The precipitation comes in form of short but heavy rain
showers and the average rainfall in Johur Bahru is around 2400 mm each year (World
Meteorological organization, n.d.). The rainiest periods are from March to May when Johor
Bahru is influenced by the southwest monsoon and November to December when the northeast
monsoon arrives.
As Johor Bahru lies in a region with a typical tropical climate with heavy thunderstorms, the
storm water is usually not connected to the waste water treatment systems. This is also the case at
UTM where the storm water is led through channels and ditches directly to the local rivers.
6.2 The waste water treatment facilities at UTM
Within the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, two waste stabilization pond facilities and two
mechanical-biological treatment plants are in operation. The pond system this report will focus on
is located south-west of the UTM campus area (see Figure 6.1) and it is treating the waste water
from the western part of the catchment area in UTM (see Appendix D). These WSP’s were built
in 1985. The mechanical-biological treatment plants were built later, as the university expanded.
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