WATER HISTORY IN MALAYSIA

        The British laid the foundation of piped water in Penang, shortly after they had set themselves up in Penang, their first base in Malaysia. The first formal arrangement for a water supply system was in 1804. Convict labour constructed an aqueduct of brick to transport clear stream water from the hills to town. Earthen pipes were laid under the streets and water was  taken through tin pipes to homes. The bricks in the aqueduct were often dislodged and the aqueduct was eventually replaced with a cast iron main in 1877.

Old Ayer Itam Intake, Penang 1889

     Sarawak had its water mains in Kuching in 1887 to provide and followed by Kuala Lumpur and Melaka in 1889 and the rest of the Federated Malay States.

    By early 1900s, treated water was delivered directly from the source to homes, as required by an International movement in developed nations to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as chorela, typhoid, and dysentery. Initially, slow, inexpensive, and easy to build sand filters, were used. They were later replaced with modern rapid gravity filtration plants. 

Drinking water transport cart, Malacca

    In 1915, disinfection technology used hypochlorite and later, gaseous chlorine. By 1939, households in the major towns of Malaya were well-served with piped water. Many water installations, however, deteriorated from neglect during the war years of the Japanese Occupation from 1941 till 1945.

Handling and laying pipes in pre-War days

 

      By 1950, Malaya had 100 treatment plants producing 195 million litres of water per day to supply a population of 1.15 million. Even then, water shortages were not uncommon, caused not by drought but rapid population growth. Demand for water increased sharply after Independence in 1957, especially in  Kuala Lumpur. To cope with rising demand, the Klang Gates Dam and the Bukit Nanas Treatment Plant were constructed in 1959.

    By the mid-1980s, the country embarked on a programme of industrialization. Water demand for industrial and domestic use rose from 0.8 billion cubic metres in 1980 to 3.5 billion cubic metres in 2000 ( 437% increase !). Water for irrigation remained the same at 7.4 billion cubic metres each year throughout the 20-year period.

Batu Ferringhi Aqueduct : constructed between 1926-1929 – 6km long, of which
1.4km is in tunnel

 

      At the end of 1999, there was a total of 69 dams in operation in Malaysia. Of these, 35 dams have been developed for water supply, 16 are multi-purpose while the rest are for irrigation and hydropower generation. The large dams include the Temenggor Dam in Perak, the Kenyir Dam in Terengganu and the Pedu Dam in Kedah. Other projects included the Kinta Dam in Perak and the Jus Dam in Melaka, regulating dam on Sungai Selangor and treatment plants in Rasa and Bukit Badong in Selangor. Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer scheme was also kicked off and is expected to be completed in 2013. 

Batu Dam, Kuala Lumpur

     
     The 8th Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) projects water demand to increase by 5.4% per annum from 2001 to 2005. The Federal Government allocated RM4 billion for water supply projects under the 8th Malaysia Plan.  
      Now in the 9th. Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), under the Ministry Of Energy, Water and Communications, a total of RM 8.1 billions will be spent on water supply related projects and of which RM 2.7 billions will be focused on new water projects.