IWK personnel carrying out desludging service. Many people are not aware that sewage needs to undergo the proper treatment process.
Regardless of pandemic or a dirty and dangerous situation, the national sewerage company is on the job
SINCE the movement control order (MCO) was implemented last year, we have spent most of our time at home rather than outdoors. This has become the norm ever since the Covid-19 pandemic engulfed the world.
This also means activities from the usage of toilets, bathrooms, washing machines and kitchen sinks have increased, and estimated to result in the rise of domestic wastewater production from 5,887.4 million litres per day in 2019 to 6,205.53 million litres per day in 2021.
Although certain business sectors were not allowed to operate during the MCO period, national sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd – an essential service – continues to treat wastewater round-the-clock.
Regardless of the current pandemic or whether it is a dirty, difficult and dangerous environment, the sewage treatment plants (STP) maintained by IWK operates non-stop 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
For domestic premises connected to STPs operated by IWK, the wastewater will flow into underground sewer pipes that will be channelled into the STP for treatment before being discharged into the irrigation system (river, ditch and sea).
However, there are still many people within communities who are not aware that sewage needs to undergo the proper treatment process, mainly because they do not encounter problems such as clogged toilets, which lead to the perception that wastewater will disappear miraculously after being flushed.
An oxidation pond is part of more modernised sewerage systems.
Did you know that Malaysia's sewerage system has undergone various stages of improvement since our country gained independence in 1957?
The humble beginnings of our sewerage system started from traditional toilet systems such as latrines, gutters and pour flush before advancing to more mordernised sewerage systems such as individual/communal septic tanks, Imhoff tanks, oxidation ponds and systems connected directly to large-scale STPs.
In 1993, the federal government granted a concession to IWK to operate and maintain sewerage services nationwide, which was previously under the responsibility of the local authorities.
In fact, the federal government recently also agreed to extend this concession agreement through a cabinet decision last October.
Since its inception, IWK has taken over sewerage services responsibilities from about 101 local authorities except Sabah, Sarawak, and parts of the operating areas of the Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang city councils.
Today, Malaysia has a modern and sophisticated sewerage system. Most of the large and high-tech STPs were built primarily for the purpose of rationalisation as well as replacing small plants with regional plants, which are operated using high-powered electrical equipment. There are more than 7,000 public STPs under the operation and maintenance of IWK.
According to IWK chief executive officer Narendran Maniam, electricity charges is among the highest expenditure of the operations and maintenance costs. Each year, these costs will increase with the addition of public sewage treatment plants taken over by IWK.
For example, the cost of electricity in 2000 was RM22.52mil but it rose to RM256.3mil last year. This shows that the cost of electricity has increased by tenfold in 20 years.
“The increase in old and ageing sewerage assets also contributes to the increase in operating costs. This is due to the fact that these assets require maintenance and repair work to ensure the treated wastewater discharged into the waters complies with the standards stipulated.
"Until June 2021, IWK's compliance with the Environmental Quality Regulations (Sewage) is more than 95% despite the addition to the plants that IWK takes over every year," said Narendran, adding that the financial burden borne by the company has to be taken into consideration even though it is not a sustainable solution, especially when IWK is to ensure sewerage services remain efficient.
According to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia is expected to experience population growth in line with rapid development and this will definitely have a major impact on wastewater production.
However, sewerage service charges for domestic customers have not changed since 1997. Be it connected services or septic tank desludging services, the charges paid by consumers are much lower than the average operating costs borne by IWK.
To that end, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man recently mentioned that the country's sewerage tariff charge needs to be carefully reviewed to cover operating costs and the addition of IWK's assets.
According to Tuan Ibrahim, since IWK's first concession agreement in 1994 to date, IWK has been responsible for the management of key assets of the sewerage system involving more than 7,000 STPs as well as maintaining 22,000km of sewerage pipes.
IWK was also asked to maintain about 1.3 million individual septic tanks and over 800,000 traditional toilets, an increase of almost 10 times compared to the initial concession signed.
The Pantai 2 regional sewage treatment plant can treat wastewater from 1.423 million population equivalent or 320 million litres of treated effluent daily.
For that, Narendran explained that the average cost of maintaining the sewerage system for each connected premises is about RM17 per month, compared to the current charges paid by domestic consumers which is between RM2 and RM8 per month.
"The company has submitted several suggestions to the Government based on studies that have been conducted to ensure that the review of sewerage service tariffs will not only balance the cost, but also does not burden consumers, especially the B40 group," said Narendan.
He added that the review of sewerage service tariffs should be given attention and consideration in an environment that is seeing the emergence of new threats of more complex environmental crime, especially the likes of prohibited waste discharge into the public sewerage system.
What is for sure is that despite all the challenges, IWK is committed and continues to strive to implement its mandate to operate and maintain the public sewerage system efficiently in any situation, said Narendran.
