Official Website of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

Solving Sewage Problems

Exciting research into sewage systems by researchers from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering will take us a step closer to better sewage waste water treatment and ensure greater environmental protection.

The environment often reeks of raw sewage due to inadequate sewage systems that swell with toxic fluids, leak or overflow into rivers, basements, bathrooms, garages and other water exits. Sewage water contains contains a number of harmful contaminants, bacteria, and viruses that are dangerous to humans, animals and plants. It spreads illness and disease, causes damage to private property and is typically accompanied with various sorts of environmental degradation.

Professor Ku Halim Ku Hamid and Mohibah Musa have found a novel way of tackling the problem by inventing a 2-stage process in their biotechnology integrated sewage waste water treatment system.  The novelty of the innovation lies in the construction of a bacteria house which is made of porous materials and impregnated with microbes. Anaerobic digestion effected by microbes in the sewage system increases the quality of the treated water. The microbes are impregnated into the bacteria house at intervals to ensure that there are adequate quantities to process the organic waste.  In waste water treatment, anaerobic digestion indicates the breakdown of waste materials in the absence of oxygen. Current aerobic techniques used are effective but costly as they utilize mechanical contraptions and electricity.