CASE OF SEWERAGE INDUSTRY- ON SITE SYSTEM

Recca Tharmarajah
Technical Standard and Compliance Division
Sewerage Regulatory Department

GENERAL OUTLINE

Population : 29.24 mil (Urban, Rural )Area: 330,252 sq. km.

BUMI –PUTRA

CHINESEINDIAN

Others

67.4 %

24.6 %

7.3 %

0.7 %

Road To Urbanization
In 1957
numberof cities:
33

More issues
on inadequate
access tosanitation ‐less pollution
on watercourse

400% Increase
In 2000
numberof cities:
140

More
pollution ofwater course
althoughaccess tosanitation
increased

REGULATORY EVOLUTION – WATER SERVICES• 11 Operators• 11 Regulators

ABASS

SATU

ESB
SWC
SAJH

• 11 Operators• 1 Regulator• Uniform legislation• Uniform regulation
and rules• Uniform tariff-setting
principles andprocedures• Standard Key
Performance
Indicators (KPIs)• Standard Operating
Procedures• Standard productcertification
procedures

REGULATORY EVOLUTION – SEWERAGE SERVICES

Sewerage
Services weremanaged by the

144 Individual
Local
Authorities

Urban byMunicipals,
Rural by
Ministry ofHealthJune 1993:
A newsewerage
Act 1993(Act 518)
waspassedby theparliament

1994 - 2005

1957 - 1993

Dec 1993:
Sewerage
ServicesDepartment (SSD)
was formed as
regulator Agency
for Sewerage
under thenew Act

Indah water provides
sewerage services in
88 out of the 144 Local
Authorities in Malaysia(however not onholistic manner) Rest ofthe areas is still
managed on Ad-Hocbasic

Current
2006 - 2008 1994 onwards,

Indah Water
took overseweragemanagement inmost states in
PeninsularMalaysia

2006, WSIA
/ SPANActs wasenacted

Indah Water tobe Service
licensee under
WSIA regime.

EVOLUTION OF SEWERAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
EVOLUTION OF SANITATION IN MALAYSIA
Prior to 1950-s

Early Days inMalaya

TECHNOLOGYPour Flush

Septic Tank

Imhoff Tank

1950-s1960-s1970-sOP/AL

Activated Sludge/
Biological Filters

Fully MechanisedPlant

1980-s1990-s2000 YEAR

Primitive / Primary Treatment

Partial / Full Secondary Treatment

Future Tertiary Treatment(Address Public Health)(Address River Pollution)(Address Environment)

WAY FORWARD

1 Regulator
11 Water
Operators
144 Local
Authorities

11 Water
Operators

4‐5
Sewerage
Operators

11 WaterRegulators

BeforeCurrent

1 Regulator

11Operators(for eachstate)

Ideal

Covering
bothwaterandsewerage
services

SEWERAGE SYSTEMS PROFILE IN MALAYSIA

8,542 nos (23,244,342 PE)
Sewage Treatment System

Off-site
On-site2400 nos (240,000 PE)
2,400 nos (240,000 PE)
Small Sewage Treatment System

894,859 nos (4,474,293 PE)
Cess pit

1,280,137 nos (7,137,435 PE)
Individual Septic Tank (include CST)FOCUS UNDER THE LAW

Economic

 License operators
 Review Business Plans
 Define obligations of licensee
 Advise tariffs
 Integration of water & sewerage services

Technical

 Technical and performance standards
 Permit and certification of contractors
 Water supply and sewerage systems

Consumer Quality of services
 Resolutions of consumer complaints/disputes
 Provision of information
 Water forum Rates and deposits

Social Sewerage capital contribution fund
 Water industry fund Environmental aspects

ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS #1
Design standards stringent to achieve effluent
quality if :Discharge of treated effluent located upstream
the of water catchment areas and/or in certain
sensitive receiving watercourse

DESIGN CRITERIA

Governed to a large
extend by the hydraulicaspects of treatedeffluent discharge tosuitable watercourse

ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS #2

If location of theground water inthe premises tobe built is moving
towards the well
field, even thoughpremises islocated outside
the 200m radius,
thus the premise
effluent discharge
must comply withthe Standard ABACKGROUND

In January 2008,
Water Services
Industry Act 2006
becameenforceable

300,000

Chart 1: Number of ISTs in Peninsular Malaysia andFederal Territories of Putrajaya and Labuan
263,787

IST

250,000
207,400

Responsibility ofdesludging
individual septictank falls under
the owner
Prior to WSIA
mandatoryscheduleddesludging was inplace

200,000
175,546
155,396
150,000

134,595

100,000

50,00052,0886,562
087,024

76,132
66,04238,754
19,134
12,9541

ADVANTANGE & DISADVANTANGE OF ONSITE TREATMENT SYSTEMADVANTAGES• Low installation cost
• Easy installation• Serving a single premise

DISADVANTAGE• Inconsistent treatment performance• Require regular desludging frequency ofonce every 3 years• Capacity allowed only up to 30PE
• Lacking of Enforcement

MAIN ACT – WATER SERVICES INDUSTRIAL ACT 2006 (WSIA)
Sec 65 (1) …Servicelicensee or permit
holder must begiven access for thepurpose of servicing
and desludging

Sec 179 - empowers
Minister to makeRules for desludging

Sec 44 (1) –Obligation ofservice
licensee todesludge
septic tanks asprescribed

W H AT A W A S T E ! !
Our Health! Our Rubbish! Our Money!
Current plans for our waste will have an impact on us for years to come. Can we livewith it?!

APPROVED RULES – PENDING TO BE GAZETTED
Water Services Industry(Desludging And Discharge Of Sewage Sludge) Rules 2011

SECTION 3
RESPONSIBILITY OFDESLUDGING AND SEPTIC TANKMAINTENANCE

Note:
Contractor means the desludgingcontractors registered with SPANSECTION 3
Shall desludge
once in every
thirty six (36)monthsOwner, management
corporation or occupier of any
premise connected to a septictank
IWK/Majaari
IWK/Majaari
and all
and all
contractors arecontractors ‘
subjected to theresponsibilities
stipulated fees
are specified
and charges
and regulated

APPROVED RULES PENDING TO BE GAZETTED

Chargesfordesludging
services• Desludging based on request• At least once every 3 years(base on the designspecification)

RM 230 ( for

RM 300 (for service

permit E holders)licensee ‐ IWK)

• For septic tankswith volume up
to 2 m3• For septic tankwith volume up
to 2 m3 (allowedpayment ininstalment)

RM 115/m3• every meter cubic
after the first 2m3

ROLES OF UPSTREAM STAKEHOLDERS(REGULATOR)OWNER, MANAGEMENTCORPORATION, OCCUPIER• Desludge once in every 36 months• Retain desludging records

DESLUDGING OPERATORDESLUDGING CONTRACTOR• Able to choose services to render

INDAH WATER KONSORTIUM• Must acknowledge all requests• Record keeping centerOPERATOR OF SLUDGE
TREATMENT FACILITIES• Validates quantity of sludge

ROLES OF DOWNSTREAM STAKEHOLDERS

Provide proper access to septic tank fordesludging activities by IWK/Majaari or othercontractors
Shall ensure that the septic tank is desludged
once in every thirty six (36) months. Penalty
for negligence is not exceeding RM 50,000.
Retain the desludging services works
completion copy
Sludge must be disposed at an authorized
site, approved by DOE/SPAN
Shall not discharge, dispose and place nondomestic waste into septic tank. Can becharged not exceeding RM 100,000 orimprisonment for term not exceeding 1 year

KEY ISSUES
AWARENESSPROGRAMME
Campaign being
held throughMalaysia toencourage
Malaysiandesludging theirIST.
The message
brought to public
to address key
issues andawareness indesludge their
septic tanks :Unbearable stenchpermeating the air

Malfunctioning oftoilets, sinks andsanitary pipes

Higher risk of being
confronted withwater borne diseases

Quality of water
resource will beaffected

500000

INDAH WATER KONSORTIUM (IWK) DESLUDGING TREND 2003 - 2015

450000Total Desludged

400000

Scheduled
Desludging
Concept

350000379827

Total Unsuccessful
Total Attempted

300000250000Way Forward

233304200000150000Liberalization
Desludging
Concept

146523105005

Proposed
Scheduled
Desludging
Concept

100000

72193
50777

55880
44001

50000

38488

49125
28192

12289

66148
42488
23660

0
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

REFUSAL OF DESLUDGING

Refusal From Owners
Why Desludging Rate
Is Low?

Septic Tank Covers Sealed
Location Inaccessible
Owner Not In During Visit
Septic Tank Not Found/ Missing
Premise Not Found
Unoccupied Premises
Non Standard Septic Tank

SCHEDULE VS LIBERALIZATION• Schedule desludging ‐ 2years once
• Desludging services by
IWK or by contractor
appointed by IWK2008
WATER SERVICES
INDUSTRY ACT2006 ENFORCED

LIBERALIZATION CONCEPTAPPROVED DESLUDGING RULES• Septic tanks users arecharged monthly• Desludging based on request of septictank user• Charges RM6/ monthly• Desludging services can be performed
either by IWK or permit E holder

BEFORE 2008

• Charges are one of after the services
are rendered (IWK = RM 300, Permit
E= RM 230)

EFFECTS OF NOT DESLUDGING

124,290
tankeragea year10,357
tankerage
a month559,304m3/tahun

Only 30% desludged• 242 tankers releasing sludge
70% Not Desludged =into rivers 365 days a year
• Or equivalent to filling up 120
70% Not Desludged =football field with 1 footheight of sludge every year

Septic tank will overload in timecausing untreated sewage, scumand sludge to be carried out of theseptic tank into the waterways if
not desludged.
~ This directly leads to the pollutionof our waterways and is a healthhazard~

NEEDS OF DESLUDGING• A good septage management should consider:– Legal component, economic aspect and technical requirement• The impact, increased risks such as: Health hazards
 Water resources pollution
 Environmental pollution• Services charges should not be limited to desludging
services alone but should include sludge treatment and safe
disposal• Importance of desludging and its impacts onenvironmental must be shared withthe public

INTERNATIONAL REPORTLANDSCAPE ANALYSIS AND BUSINESS MODELASSESSMENT IN FAECAL: EXTRACTION AND
TRANSPORTATION MODEL• Newbusinessmodelbasedon
liberalization has an adverse effect on thedesludging operators• If the revenue declines even slightly by5%, after tax IRR is plunges to 0%• Expected to trigger losses to medium
scaled operator within 2 years and large
operator such as IWK within 5 years• 96% of the respondents in the survey
conducted for the study are not willing to
pay more than RM 250 for the services

“LIBERALISATION TRIAL PERIOD”

Unsustainable sector in term of businessand operations
Does not allow contractors and operators tohave a feasible and economical business
model

Financial burden on service usersIncreases the regulatory burden on SPAN.
Needing to monitor contractors andenforcement actions of approximately
340,000 users of septic tanks for notdesludging

NEW WAY FORWARD FOR DESLUDGING

Review Water Services Industry (Desludgingand Discharge Sewage Sludge) Rules
Implementation of Scheduled Desludging
The tariff is proposed to be spread over a 3
year period (monthly billing)
Desludging Tariff for Domestic Premises is
set at RM 8 a monthCommercial and Industrial the Desludging
Tariff is suggested to be matched to thetariff of connected services

INITIATIVE TOBUILD IN
GOOD
GOVERNANCE

Promote Transparency In
Decision Making Process
Promote Public
Participation
Encourage Participation ofIndustry Players
Improving Regulatory
Coordination & Reducing
Red Tapes
Continuous Reform
Initiative

AIMS OF STANDARDIZATION• Sustainable development
and quality of life
• Quality of goods andservices• Efficient and effective useof resources• Friendly and transparent
conditions for trade• Benchmarking for gradualimprovement in the sector• Establish consensus goal
post for regulator, private
sector and users

BENEFITS OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTSSTANDARDIZATION - TECHNICAL MECHANISM

GENERALGUIDELINESDESIGN GUIDE‐ Condition ofInstallation‐ Design‐ Development toosmall for off site facility‐ Non‐proprietarysystems (cast in situ)‐No existing publicsewer to connect‐ Proprietary systems(prefabricated/ qualitycomtrolled)‐ Homestead
Developments

SEPTIC TANK INSENSITIVE
RECEIVING
WATERCOURSE‐ Further treatment
methods for achieving
higher effluent quality‐ Nutrient removal‐ Disinfection

STANDARDIZATION - TECHNICAL TOOLSMALAYSIAN
SEWERAGE
INDUSTRYGUIDELINES VOL.
5 – SEPTIC TANKS
3rd Edition
January 2009
Published bySPANMALAYSIANSTANDARD ON
SITE TREATMENTUNITS PART 1 :PREFABRICATEDSEPTIC TANKSSPECIFICATIONS
Publish on June
2012

TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONSEWAGE
TREATMENTSYSTEMTECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONSEWAGE
TREATMENTSYSTEM

Part 1:
PrefabricatedTanks ‐ Packaged
PlantsPart 2:
Construction andInstallation ‐Packaged Plants

First Edition
October 2010,
Revision March
2013

First Edition
October 2010,
Revision March
2013

Publish by SPAN

Publish by SPAN

MALAYSIAN
STANDARD ON SITE
TREATMENT UNITSPART 2 : PACKAGED
PREFABRICATED
SMALL SEWAGE
TREATMENTSYSTEM
SPECIFICATIONSSTANDARDIZATION - TECHNICAL TOOLSSTANDARD AND TYPICALDRAWINGS FOR
SEWERAGE SYSTEMPART 1: SEWER AND
APPURTENANCES – GRAVITY
SEWER

1st Edition 2011
Published by SPANTECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONSEWAGE
TREATMENTSYSTEMTECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONSEWAGE
TREATMENTSYSTEM

Part 1:
Prefabricated Tanks‐ Packaged Plants

Part 2: Construction
and Installation ‐Packaged Plants

First Edition
October 2010,
Revision March
2013

First Edition
October 2010,
Revision March
2013

MALAYSIAN
STANDARD ON SITE
TREATMENT UNITSPART 2 : PACKAGED
PREFABRICATED
SMALL SEWAGE
TREATMENTSYSTEM
SPECIFICATIONSSTANDARDIZATION - COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

OPERATOR• Performance and durability

SYSTEMPROVIDER

ACCREDITATION BODIESUSER• Supplying industries need• Testing and certification incompliance to specifications/standard• Quality guaranteed and clear
regulatory regime

THANKYOU“No country canreally develop
unless its citizens
are educated”