CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Water can be known as a part of important in human entire life. However, did people know
where exactly water get supplied from for the first appearance in Malaysia? Water supply can be
defined as the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community
endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered
separately. While the water treatment is the process of manipulation of water from various
sources to achieve a quality of water that will meets standard set by the community through its
regulatory agencies.
Water supply system in Malaysia has been started to be implemented in Federated Malay States
and in the Straits Settlements in the early of 19th century. The arrangement of water supply for the
first began in Pulau Pinang in 1804. The population of Pulau Pinang was about 10,000 peoples.
The British was laid the foundation for piped water where is the first base in Malaysia. Then,
stream water from the hills was brought along a brickwork channel to the town, where earthen
pipe were laid through the streets and tin pipes conducted water to the houses. The bricks in the
aqueduct were often dislodged and the aqueduct was eventually replaced with a cast iron main in
1877.
In Sarawak, Kuching had its first water supply in 1887 that serving then about 8,000 people. The
town of Kuching obtained its water supply from a nearby stream and about 450,000 litres per day
of water was provided. After that, it is followed by Kuala Lumpur and Melaka in 1889 and the
rest of the Federated Malay States.

Figure 1.1: Old Ayer Itam Intake (1889)

Through the history of water supply systems in Malaysia, the dam has been built mostly in
Peninsular Malaysia. One of the dams was located at Selangor. Selangor has the biggest dam in
the country named Sungai Selangor Dam, located at Kuala Kubu Bharu. Along with that, three
places have been detected to be involved in the process of water supply.
According to the direct observation, the three places involve are Sungai Selangor Dam, Rasa
Water Intake and Rasa Water Treatment Plant. Sungai Selangor Dam is the main sources of water
in Selangor. It is located in Hulu Selangor. The dam of Sungai Selangor has been built with the
capacity of 344,529 million liters.
The raw surface water is being collected in the dam and then treated in at Rasa Water Treatment
Plant. Rasa Water Treatment plant was established in year 1998 on 600 hectare land that run the
full processes of water treatment which are aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and
disinfection.
From the clear water tank at the water treatment plant, treated water is pumped through long
pipelines to balancing reservoirs with sufficient height for distribution by gravity to service
reservoirs in various demand centers. In areas where water is unable to be supplied by gravity,
secondary pumping systems will be introduced. So, Rasa Water Treatment Plant that is located at
Hulu Selangor distribute the treated water to the nearly area.
The purpose of water distribution is to balance the fluctuating demand from the distribution
system, permitting the source to give steady water supply to consumers. The distribution system
shall include a system of water mains and service lines between a connection or connections to
the existing distribution system at approved locations.
In short, this assignment will show how the process of water supply and reticulation that starts
from Sungai Selangor Dam and then transferred to Rasa Water Intake and being treated in Rasa
Water Treatment before being distributed to the consumer for daily usage.