A survey of tap water quality in Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

A safe drinking water programme known as The National Drinking Water Quality Surveillance Programme (NDWQSP) was launched by the Ministry of Health, Government of Malaysia in 1983 to ensure safe practices in water treatment and distribution. The aim of this work was to assess the effectiveness of this programme in the improvement of tap water quality in and around Kuala Lumpur. The results indicate that there was no microbial contamination in 100 random samples collected from 20 selected areas. Other quality parameters such as colour, pH, turbidity, hardness, magnesium, sulphate and chloride were within acceptable limits. Heavy metals such as Cu 2þ , Pb 2þ , Cr (total), Ni 2þ , Cd 2þ , Fe (total) and Mn (total) were also under control. The only exception was Ba 2þ , which did not comply with the standard and was up to ten times higher than the guideline value. Moreover, there was significant variation in water quality as indicated by the test results.

Measurement of Water Quality Parameters for Before and After Maintenance Service in Water Filter System

“…The turbidity at the influent was much lower compare to the standard, i.e., 0.792 NTU which almost similar to [10] that obtain average turbidity for tap water was 0.86 NTU. This concentration complies with the recommended value of 1 NTU for safe drinking water using chlorine as disinfectants [10].…”

“…This concentration complies with the recommended value of 1 NTU for safe drinking water using chlorine as disinfectants [10]. After passing through the water filter, concentration at the effluent was reduced to 0.433 NTU for before maintenance service.…”

“…If the effluent water is directed to the elevated water storage tank and stored for a long time, the effluent may not safe for drinking due to probability of contamination. In addition, pH measured after maintenance with value 7.75 which higher than requirement for effective disinfection with chlorine [10]. Thus, residual chlorine was less significant in the water filter system in terms against protection of additional microbial contamination.…”

A Review on Lead (Pb) Contamination in the Drinking Water Supply at Langat River Basin, Malaysia

“…Moreover, the Pb concentration at Bandar Sunway crossed the maximum limit of drinking water quality standard 10 µg/L proposed by Ministry of Health Malaysia, World Health Organization, and European Commission, respectively as well as 15µg/L by United States Environmental Protection Agency. However, lower dissolved Pb concentrations were also observed 3.04 µg/L at Seri Kembangan et al [7], 0.75 µg/ Lat Kuala Lumpur [6] and 3±2 µg/L in Langat Basin [13] than the concentration at Bandar Sunway within the Langat River Basin. The higher Pb concentration in the supply water might be primarily from corrosion of the galvanized iron (i.e.…”

“…However, there is no study that investigates the chemical concentrations from upstream to downstream in the Langat River, exactly from where the water treatment plants (WTPs) within the basin take water for the treatment purposes. In the meantime, a few studies at LRBM determined the higher concentrations of Pb [6,7] in the supply water mostly because of its contamination in the water distribution pipeline. Moreover, many studies have considered Pb as an emerging contaminant and its ingestion is an issue of emerging concern [8][9][10][11].…”