Malaysia mandates all facilities to conduct periodical desludging 
The “Water Services Industry (Desludging Services) Regulations 2021” came into operation in Malaysia on March 30, 2021 (promulgated on March 29, 2021). The regulations require owners, management corporations, and occupiers of premises connected to a septic tank or having a septic tank to cause the service licensees, such as the state-owned sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK), to conduct desludging services regularly. Notices to owners of premises informing them of the planned desludging services will be issued in turn from June 1, 2021. In Malaysia, 90% of 1.3 million septic tanks connected to premises are not being desludged on a regular basis, causing water pollution. The regulations were enacted with the aim of improving the current situation.
The regulations can be viewed from the following URL.
https://lom.agc.gov.my/ilims/upload/portal/akta/outputp/pua_20210329_PUA140.pdf
The main provisions prescribed in the regulations
- Septic tanks shall be desludged once in every two years within the boundary of any local authority area, and once in every three years outside the boundary of any local authority area.
- The service licensee shall issue a written notice to the owner, management corporation, or occupier of premises connected to a septic tank or having a septic tank to inform that the service licensee will carry out the desludging services. The owner, management corporation, or occupier of premises shall cause the service licensee to carry out desludging services on the date specified in the notice.
- The owner, management corporation, or occupier of premises may reschedule the date to carry out the services in case the specified date is not permissible.
- If the owner, management corporation, or occupier of premises fails to either give access to the service licensee to carry out desludging service or to reschedule the date, the service licensee shall issue a second written notice and fix a new date to perform desludging services.
- In case any owner, management corporation, or occupier fails to give access to the service licensee to carry out desludging service after receiving second notice, it shall be deemed as a violation of the law under subsection 65 (3) of the “Water Service Industry Act 2006.”
