GREYWATER POLLUTION AND ITS TREATMENT IN MALAYSIA

Muhammad Zakwan Bin Hamizi

Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UTHM
zakwanhamizi@gmail.com

Abstract
Greywater is one of the wastewater that are produced from our daily routine such as water from
washing machines, showers and kitchen sinks. Greywater also can be simplify as the wastewater
that are come from home. However, the wastewater that come from the toilets cannot be defined
as greywater because it is contain fecal matter and also urine. The treatment of greywater is
easier than the blackwater because of its contain. The greywater contain less of nitrogen and
pathogens compared to blackwater. Besides, the decomposition process of greywater much faster
compared to blackwater because blackwater contain higher concentrations of organic material.
Introduction
Water plays important role in our daily life. It is helps in many things and also to make us
have a comfortable life. Our body also consist 70% of water. Nowadays, in Malaysia there are
many problem of the disruption of water supply. This is because of the pollution such as
greywater pollution that makes the process of water treatment become more complicated. So
that, we must do our responsibility to make the disruption of water supply decrease from day to
day. Greywater can be classified as the one of point sources pollution. This is because it is come
from the residential area and also from the place like restaurant and food court.
The recycle of greywater is applied in many countries especially in the developed
countries but in Malaysia it is rarely used. The water pollution in Malaysia is getting worse from
day to day due to the increasing of the population in Malaysia. So that, if the greywater is reuse,
the pollution of water can be decreased even a little percentage. There are various type of
greywater treatment that are effective to make the water is ready to use. In Kuching, Sarawak,
the treatment of greywater that is conducted is known as ecological treatment. The water
treatment is done in that area to reduce the usage of water supply and also the pollution in
Kuching rivers is getting worse.
Literature Review
Water Condition in Sarawak
The greywater treatment is done at the Kuching City since the year of 2003. As in other
residential areas, water is discharged directly to the drain. The water is discharged without any
treatment and it will cause the water pollution occur. As the result, the percentage of water
quality in areas such as river is becoming very low.
The water treatment that have been done is called ECOSAN project. The greywater will be
treated to the ECOSAN facilities and there are some procedures will be conducted.
Water Quality Improvement
Based on the result of the treatment, the quality of water is increasing and thats indicate that the
water treatment by that way is efficient. The result show that, the percentage of reducing BOD5,
COD, TSS and ammonia is more than 90%. The treated water will be channeled to the storm
water drains as the surface water.
Potential for Reuse
The water sources is one of the valuable things in our life. The greywater that is channeled to the
drain without any recycle is just a waste. By the ECOSAN treatment, the wastewater that are
treated are potential for reuse, so that we can save the using of water supply. This is because the
cost of water treatment is so expensive.
Methods
Ecological Sanitation System
That type of treatment is conducted on-site local treatment and not directly to the nature.
Firstly, for each treatment system, there are several number of houses is selected which is about
150 to 200 houses. After that, it will determined the number of ECOSAN system needed.
The model used for the system is known as The Wallingford Software. The network
modelling principle is used to create the pipelines and it is as the first scenario. For the second
scenario, after the water is treated by the ECOSAN facilities, it will be reuse to the domestic
environment. The model is showing the simplified element of the system.
The function of the oil and grease tank is for the wet walls. The function of the pump is to
low the flow rate of water so that the water can channeled downstream. The effect of gravity
helps the greywater to be transported. The water that is treated can be potential to reuse again.

Figure 1 : Ecological Sanitation Design

Result
After the treatment is done, the result shows that the treatment of the water by using the
ECOSAN system can produce the quality water. The water that is treated also can be potential
for reuse. The result is shown in the Figure 2.

Figure 2 : The amount of BOD5, COD, TSS and Ammonia after the treatment.

Conclusion
As the conclusion, the treatment of the greywater by using the ecological treatment is
suitable for make the greywater become the quality water. This is shown by the result from the
sytem conducted. So that, it is can be applied to the whole states in Malaysia to reducing the
pollution of water sources. We also as the consumers must take our concern so that all peoples
and also the next generation can can use the water sources without any disruption of water
supply.
References
1. DYS Mah, F J Putuhena, S Salim, S H Lai, August 2008, Modelling of Greywater Reuse for
Kuching, Malaysia.
2. Prof. Ir. Dr. Amir Hashim bin Mohd Kassim, Radin Maya Saphira Bte Radin Mohamed,
Study on the Greywater Potential of Greywater Reuse/Recycling in Individual Household
System.
3. Darrien Mah Yau Seng, Frederik Joseph Putuhena, Salim Said, Law Puong Ling, July 2007,
A Study of Ecological Sanitation as a Way to Combat Urban Water Stress.