13th WEPA Annual Meeting and WEPA International Workshop on Industrial Wastewater Management, 26-28 September
2017, Jakarta Indonesia

CURRENT SITUATION AND ISSUES OF INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIABYSYAZRIN SYIMA SHARIFUDDINANG SHIN YINGNATIONAL HYDRAULIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF MALAYSIA (NAHRIM)MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT (NRE)1OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATERREGULATIONS IN MALAYSIA
12345• TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER QUALITY STANDARDS• CHALLENGES IN MONITORING• INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER QUALITY MONITORING METHODS• COMPLIANCE REGARDING INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER QUALITY STANDARDS• ISSUES AND CHALLENGES2COMPOSITION OF WATER POLLUTION SOURCES BY SECTORMalaysia: Composition of Water Pollution Sources by Sector, 2015
(Department of Environment, Malaysia)

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TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATERQUALITY STANDARDS AND LEGISLATION(UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT,1974 ) TO CONTROL WATER POLLUTION
 In the interests of protecting the two traditional industries ofpalm oil and natural rubber production in Malaysia, and inview of the fact that strict wastewater standards are difficult
to achieve in a short term due to the nature of theirproduction processes, the government has set separate andmore lenient wastewater standards for these two industries
than for other manufacturing industries.
 There are also special regulations and orders under theEnvironmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 that apply only tothese two industries.

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CHALLENGES IN
MONITORING

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INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER QUALITY MONITORING METHODS
8 Environmental Mainstreaming Tools apply•emphasis of enforcement is on Performance Monitoring (PM) =“Upstream of Final Discharge” or Each Unit Operation/Unit Process•Enforcement•emphasis of enforcement is on Compliance Monitoring (CM)= ‘FinalDischarge”•Online reporting•Online Monitoring (in progress)•Online database•Mobile apps
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MONITORING APPROACH 1. Guided Self-Regulation (GSR) Approach

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MONITORING APPROACH 1. Guided Self-Regulation (GSR) Approach

Competent Person
8910MONITORING APPROACH 2. Command and Control

COMPETENT PERSONPERFORMANCEMONITORINGEND OF PIPESAPPROACHESEFFLUENT DISCHARGEMONITORINGGREEN INDUTRY PRACTICES/CLEANER PRODUCTION(material substitution, changein process, waste minimizationand recycling
ONLINE ENVIRONMENTALREPORTING11MONITORING APPROACH 3. Enhancement of ICT12INDUSTRIES WHICH FACE CHALLENGES IN COMPLIANCE
The effectiveness of regulations is dependent on the firms decision to comply; which
in turn is based on cost and benefit considerations.

Compliance to environmental regulations is driven by enforcement activities in order
to effect a change in the behaviour of firms.

The lack of appropriate treatment technology, insufficient treatment capacity, andpoor maintenance of existing treatment systems resulted in a low compliance levelindustries.

Malaysia: Compliance status of industry(Department of Environment, Malaysia)

For example, the textile and dyeing industries generally operate without adequate
treatment capabilities. These industries consist primarily of small- to medium-sizedworkshops & do not have enough resources to invest in treatment systems

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ENFORCEMENT ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Growing Public Expectation• Increasing nos of environmental complaints.
• Limited Resources with growing number of issues &pollution sources to be tackled

Attitude• Cases illegal discharges or accidental dischargers fromindustries

Unwillingness to invest• efficient wastewater treatment technologies• Lacking in Green Industry Practices.

The need to protect thewater supply• Prolong Dry Season (Low River Flow) – Affect River Water
Quality – Affect The Operation Of WTP• Protection of water catchment areas

Institutional Arrangement• Coordinated efforts among agencies• Responsibilities of all relevant agencies
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IN PROGRESS…..
CEDMS - Continuous Effluent Discharge Monitoring System
incorporate Real-Time for effluent quality discharge monitoring.

TMDL- Total Maximum Daily Loadtotal max amount of daily pollutant that can enter the water body, without violating the WQ standard

NEQMP- National Environmental Quality Management Programme- network of environmental quality monitoring stations encompassing both continuous and manualmodes of monitoring- allows for real-time river & marine water quality data to be measured and recorded, while themanual stations where river or marine water samples are collected and sent to the lab to be analysed

Regulation in cessIndustries to contribute according to amount of generation of waste

New regulation to further control water pollution

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REFERENCES
1.

Alagesh, T. N. (2016, October 13). DOE to introduce GSR, ensure regulations and standards compliance. New Straits
Times. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/

2.

Daud, M. S. M. (2015). Environmental Legislation for safe guarding our water. Forum on Environmental Legislation 2015
in conjuction with ENSEARCH 31st AGM.

3.

Ibrahim, S. Z. (2015). Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127): Enforcement And Water Pollution Prevention In
Malaysia. Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia (NRE)

4.

Ibrahim, A. K. C. (2017). Strengthening Capacity For Environmental Law In Malaysia’s Judiciary: Train-the-judges
Program (TTJ). Department of Environment (DOE), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia (NRE)5.

Industry’s self-compliance more effective than enforcement – DOE (2017, April 28). The Borneo Post. Retrieved fromhttp://www.theborneopost.com/

6.

Ithnin, I. (2015). Malaysia Industrial Pollution Prevention And Control Policies And Laws. Regional Forum on
Environmental Compliance in Industrial Sector 24-25 September 2015.

7.

Majid, A. M. (2016). Water Pollution Control and Enforcement Status and Challenges in Malaysia. Strategies andPractices for Water Pollution Enforcement Workshop 8-10 November, Taipei.

8.

Rahman, Z. A. (2015). The State Of Our Rivers: Social Dan Enforcement Issues And Challenges – Case Study Of Rivers InSelangor. Water Malaysia (WM 2015) 22nd -24th April 2015 Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

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Situation and Challenges for the Problematic Industry andCountermeasures

PALM OIL INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA

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INTRODUCTION• Malaysia is one of the largest producers and exporters of palm oil inthe world, accounting for 39 % of world palm oil production and 44%of world exports (MPOC, 2012).
• This important industry, however has generated palm oil mill effluent(POME) which is the most difficult to handle due to its high volumegenerated (Mandaki and Lau, 2013) and the treatment process(Rupani et al., 2010).
• It is estimated that the crude palm oil (CPO) production of 19.51
million tonnes to have the potential to produce 58.53 million m3 ofPOME annually (Kumaran et al., 2016)18

PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME)• POME is produced in the palm oil mill process that consists of sterilizer condensate(36%), separator sludge (60%) and hydrocyclone (4%).
• A yellow, concentrated liquid with a distinct offensive odor
• Non toxic, high amount of N, P, K, Mg, Ca• Acidic (pH 4 – 5) (volatile acids)• POME consists of:• 95 – 96% water• 0.6 – 0.7% of oil• 4 – 5 % of total solid• POME treatment – ponding system, open tank digester and extended aeration
system, or closed anaerobic digester and land application system (Wu et al., 2010)19

POME TREATMENT PROCESS

Source:20DOE, 2013

Oil TrapCooling pond

Mixing pond

Anaerobic pond

Facultative pond

Algae pond
21Source: DOE, 2013

CHARACTERISTICS & COMPOSITION
Raw Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)
Parameters
pHMeanRange

4.2

3.4 – 5.2

Biochemical Oxygen
Demand (BOD) (mg/l)

25,000

10,250 – 43,750

Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD) (mg/l)

51,00015,000 –100,000

Total Solids (mg/l)

40,00011,500 – 79,000

Suspended Solids (mg/l)

18,0005,000 – 54,000

Volatile Solids (mg/l)

34,0009,000 – 72,000

Oil and grease (mg/l)

6,000

130 – 18,000

Ammoniacal Nitrogen(mg/l)

354 – 80

Palm Oil Mill Secondary Effluent (POMSE)
Parameters

Shahrifun etal. (2015)

Aqilah etal. (2013)

Omar(2008)

pH

7.86 – 8.3

9.0

8.58

BOD (mg/l)

249 – 270

160-

COD (mg/l)

3,309 – 4,044

1,600

579

Color (ADMI)

3,860 – 6,270-

547

Fe2+ (mg/l)

0 – 0.05--

Total Fe (mg/l)

0.06 – 1.75

-

0.418

TSS (mg/l)

1,635 – 1,875

14,787

62.9

Turbidity (NTU)

2,843 – 2,894----179

TOC (mg/l)

POMSE – result of biological treatment of POME, thick,brownish color, bad odor, higher pH, lower BOD and COD
Total Nitrogen (mg/l)
750
180 – 1,400
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Source: http://www.mpob.gov.my/en/palm-info/environment/520-achievements (2014)

Palm Oil Mill Secondary Effluent (POMSE) andPalm Oil Mill Tertiary Effluent (POMTE)POMTE being
channeled backto the plantation
area for irrigation
purposePOMSE (Biological Treatment)
Dark color of POMSE
Effluent discharged tothe environment

Polishing process
Dark color POMTE from polishingtank before discharge

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PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME) DISCHARGESTANDARDS/ LIMITSParameters

DOE Discharge Limit (1986onwards)a

Environmental Quality Actb

BOD3 (mg/l)

50 (20)d100

COD (mg/l)

1000

1000c

Total Solids (mg/l)

1500

1500c

Suspended Solids (mg/l)

400

400

Oil and grease (mg/l)

5050Ammoniacal Nitrogen (mg/l)

100

150c

Total Nitrogen (mg/l)

200

200c

pH

5.0

5.0 – 9.0

Temperature (°C)

4545

a Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE)b Parameters Limit of Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil) (Amendment) Regulation 1997
c No new value stipulated since 1982
d Stringent standards in environmentally sensitive areas of Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia starting 2006

Source: Mandaki and Lau, 2013; Shahrifun24et al., 2015

IMPACT TO THE ENVIRONMENT• Water pollution• POME in water body could lead to oxygen depletion and suffocate
aquatic life
• High nutrient content (N, P, K, Mg, Ca) lead to plant growth in aquaticregion (Shahrifun et al., 2015)• Crippled water source for residents in rural area – oil and dirt
• Greenhouse gases - methane or biogas, generated during anaerobic
digestion of POME – second largest source of methane generation inMalaysia (38%) next to landfills (53%) (Mandaki and Lau, 2013)25

Location: Tenegang River,Kinabatangan,Sabah, Malaysia
Date: 27 May 2014
Photos by DOE Sandakan,Sabah, Malaysia

27 May 2014

27 May 2014

• Eutrophication/brownalgae bloom• Suspected impact frompalm oil mill effluent• No direct evidence toshow that the bloom
was due to palm oilmill effluent
Blooming of aquatic plants

27 May 2014

27 May 2014
21 April 2015

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REASON FOR NON-COMPLIANCE• Palm oil mill need to comply with the discharge standards in order toobtain or renew the palm oil production licenses• It is very rare for the palm oil mill not to comply with the standards• Reasons for non compliance (Shahrifun, 2015):• Different characteristic of POME
• Factors affecting the quantity and quality of POME produced:• Different batches or days
• Different oil extraction techniques• The quality of the palm fruits• Different climate and cropping season• Treatment efficiency• Overflow during heavy rain

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CURRENT MITIGATION MEASURES/TECHNOLOGIES• Zero discharge of palm oil waste• Genting Jambongan Oil Mill, Sabah, Malaysia – Malaysia
1st zero discharge oil mill
• Inclusion of a compost plant that utilises all of its wasteand by-products (shredded EFB, decanter slurry andeffluent) from the mill and convert them into
biofertiliser• The system is able to evaporate all the effluent
produced by the oil mill and eliminate the need for
effluent treatment and land irrigation• Biofertiliser produced is high in nutrients and it issuitable to be channelled to estate fields as areplacement for at least 80% of inorganic fertiliser thatwould otherwise have been applied

Source: Genting Plantations Berhad, 201628

Zero Discharge POME Pilot-scale Treatment Plant

Schematic diagram of palm oil mill effluent treatment plant

Location: Sime Darby Plantation Palm Oil Mill

29 2015
Source: Wang et al.,References
Aqilah, N., Fadzil, M., Zainal, Z., and Abdullah, A.H. (2013). COD removal for palm oil mill secondary effluent by using UV/ Ferrioxalate/ TiO2/O3 system. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering 3(7).
DOE (2013). Malaysia’s requirement on industrial effluent treatment systems. The WEPA Workshop and Annual Meeting 18 – 21 February
2013, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Genting Plantations Berhad (2015). Sustainability Report 2016.
Kumaran P., Hephzibah D., Sivasankari R., Saifuddin N., Shamsuddin A.H., 2016, A review on industrial scale anaerobic digestion systems
deployment in Malaysia: opportunities and challenges. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 56: 929–940
Mandaki, Y.S. and Lau, S. (2013). Palm oil mill effluent (POME) from Malaysia palm oil mills: waste or resource. International Journal ofScience, Environment and Technology 2(6): 1138 – 1155.
MPOC, 2012. The palm oil industry. Available online: http://www.mpoc.org.my/Malaysian_Palm_Oil_Industry.aspx (Accessed 23 September2017).
Omar, Q.B. (2008). Recovery and reuse of Iron from solar fenton sludge in treating palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE). Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia Declaration of Thesis. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor.
Rupani, R.F., Singh, R.P., Ibrahim, M.H. and Esa, N. (2010). Review of current palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment methods:vermicomposting as a sustainable practice. World Applied Sciences Journal 11(1): 70 – 81.
Shahrifun, N.S.A., Ab’lah, N.N., Hussain, H., Aris, A., Omar, Q. and Ahmad, N. (2015). Characterization of palm oil mill secondary effluent(POMSE). Malaysian Journal of Civil Engineering 27(1): 144 – 151.
Wang, J., Mahmood, Q., Qiu, J.P., Li, Y.S., Chang, Y.S., Chi, L.N., Li, X.D. (2015). Zero discharge performance of an industrial pilot-scale plant
treating palm oil mill effluent. BioMed Research International 2015.
Wu, T.Y., Mohammad, A.W., Jahim, J.M. and Annua, N. (2010). Pollution control technologies for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent(POME) through end-of-pipe processes. Journal of Environmental Management 91(7): 1467 – 1490.

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