Municipal Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: Principles And Engineering

by Zaini Ujang (Editor)

Municipal Wastewater Management in Developing Countries discusses various approaches to municipal wastewater management in order to protect both public health and the environment, with the major focus being on waterborne diseases. Developing countries can be divided into two main categories, i.e. countries in transition with higher growth rates where industrialisation and urbanisation are taking place rapidly, and countries with slower growth rates. It is important, therefore, that approaches should be tailor-made and site-specific. In general, the major trends of water pollution control have significantly contributed to the development of ?conventional sanitation? approaches in terms of legal and financial frameworks, as well as technological enhancement. Despite advances in the science, engineering and legal frameworks, 95 per cent of the wastewater in the world is released into the environment without treatment. Only five per cent of global wastewater is properly treated using the ?standard? sanitation facilities, mainly in developed countries. As a result, the majority of the world?s population is still exposed to waterborne diseases, and the quality of water resources has been rapidly degraded, particularly in poor developing countries. The challenge now is to provide the world?s population, especially the poor, with adequate water and sanitation facilities. Despite billions of dollars of investment spent every year, billions of poor people are still suffering and dying because of poor sanitation. At the beginning of this century, about 1.1 billion people lived without access to clean water (compared to about the same number in 1990), 2.4 billion without appropriate sanitation (compared to 2.3 billion in 1990) and four billion without sound wastewater disposal. The future scenario, that water resources will be further depleted by a growing world population, will be coupled with environmental degradation due to poor pollution control, particularly in most of the developing countries. In order to address the issue of water and wastewater management in developing countries it is necessary to take into consideration the segments of the society itself, particularly the types of housing areas. The segments will indicate the level of socio-economic, mentality and knowledge, which is important for any planned changes in their life style and social engineering. It is also important to segregate the funding framework of any proposed projects. High-income urban communities, for instance, are generally willing to pay for sewerage services and higher water supply tariffs, therefore a designated system can be accordingly provided. Over the past 10 years, serious criticism has been given to the ?conventional sanitation? approach, consequently many definitions, concepts and characteristics have been proposed on ?sustainable sanitation?. Sustainable sanitation is a relevant concept in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 of providing water supply and adequate sanitation for developing countries. Sustainable sanitation is flexible in approach any community ? poor or rich, urban or rural, water-rich or water-poor country ? and requires lower investment costs compared to conventional sanitation approaches. It is also important to note that the framework of sustainable sanitation is much easier to adopt in developing countries where water supply and sanitation infrastructures are still in the developing stages. In some developing countries, no public facilities are available therefore it is an ideal condition to start a new infrastructure with a new framework. This comprehensive reference, prepared by leading international authorities, will provide an invaluable reference for all those concerned with the management of sanitation services in developing countries worldwide.

344 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2006

About the author

With an army father posted in different states around the country, Zaini learnt to be independent from a young age, living in a student hostel for the children of army personnel in Melaka, visiting his parents during school holidays.

The country's youngest Vice Chancellor at 43 years old, Zaini joined UTM as a permanent academic staff in 1988.

Although he is now an acknowledged water expert, Zaini did not have any childhood ambitions to become a scientist. He credits his chemistry and biology teachers at school for awakening his interest in science.

Zaini Ujang is an academic administrator, environmental engineers and scientist who attempts to blend knowledge, skills, experience and innovation in a harmonious manner. As Secretary-General of the Higher Education Ministry, he helmed the direction of the 2015-2025 Education Development Plan (Higher Education)with a variety of innovations and transformations Education Development Plan in terms of ecosystem, governance and funding of higher education institutions.

As Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) from 2008-2013, he introduced the new academia as his brainchild, and transformed UTM into the first local university to have more than 50% of graduate students, especially in Science and Technology. He was also the first recipient of the Merdeka Award (distinguished academic achievement in 2009.

Zaini’s scholastic achievement and thought leadership in water matters were soon recognised locally and internationally. He is currently the Chairman of the Environmental Quality Council, Malaysia and is one of the Commissioners of the National Commission on Water Services. He was the Vice President of the International Water Association (IWA) from 2004-06, and serves as Deputy President of the Malaysia Water Association. Zaini is a Fellow to the Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK) and the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. He has been the Senior Advisor to the Prince Khalid bin Sultan Chair on Water Research, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia since January this year and heads a team studying groundwater issues in Madinah.

Zaini has received several accolades for his outstanding scientific research including the Malaysia Water Award 2004 (Research), the Outstanding Young Malaysian Award (Academic leadership) in 2004 and the Gold Medal from the Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Am (IPTA) Expo on Research & Development in 2005.

Zaini has published over 200 technical papers, 22 books, chapters, monographs and technical reports on environmental engineering. He and his coworkers have registered 21 patents and copyrights. Sought after for his expertise, he has co-edited two books with Mogens Henze, an expert in environmental engineering entitled Municipal Wastewater Management in Developing Countries and Environmental Biotechnology. Zaini was appointed Member of the Editorial Board, Water Science & Technology, WST Water Supply and later appointed editor of the Water and Environmental Management Series in 2003 under IWA Publishing, London. He received the highest citation for journal publications based on the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) citation index for environmental engineering in Malaysia.

Zaini is a married to Zainah Moktar and is a father of four. Apart from his interest in art, he is a bibliophile who enjoys reading and writing, horseback riding, jungle trekking and cycling.