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As water scarcity increases globally due to rapid population growth, unsustainable use, water degradation and climate change, water security is increasingly becoming a serious and growing concern. Sustainable water resources management and development are central to addressing this pressing concern. One of the ways forward is through the development of multi-purpose dams. However, dam development is often mired with controversies over its environmental and social impacts. It is anticipated that multipurpose dam development is going to gain attention in Malaysia; the question at issue is not only about the multi-purpose dam development per se, but the sustainable water resources management. This article attempts to discuss water security issues in the Malaysian context, the needs for sustainable water resources management and environmentally sustainable multi-purpose dam development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pilot scale membrane plant was constructed and monitored in Shah Alam, Malaysia for municipal wastewater reclamation for industrial application purposes. The aim of this study was to verify its suitability under the local conditions and environmental constraints for secondary wastewater reclamation. Immersed-type crossflow microfiltration (IMF) was selected as the pretreatment step before reverse osmosis filtration. Secondary wastewater after chlorine contact tank was selected as feed water. The results indicated that the membrane system is capable of producing a filtrate meeting the requirements of both WHO drinking water standards and Malaysian Effluent Standard A. With the application of an automatic backwash process, IMF performed well in hydraulic performance with low fouling rate being achieved. The investigations showed also that chemical cleaning is still needed because of some irreversible fouling by microorganisms always remains. RO treatment with IMF pretreatment process was significantly applicable for wastewater reuse purposes and promised good hydraulic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]