Drinking Water Quality in Malaysia: A Review on Its Current Status

Abstract

Access to safe drinking water is fundamental to health. This review aims to assess the status of drinking water quality in Malaysia. Only peer-reviewed cross-sectional articles from January 2000 until May 2018 focusing on treated water and groundwater in Malaysia were included in this review. Based on the inclusion criteria, 30 articles were selected which measures water quality parameters in drinking water. Overall pooled mean for physical parameters (pH, turbidity, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, temperature and conductivity) were within the reference levels established by the Malaysian National Drinking Water Quality Standard. In this review, the generally low number of available studies which fulfil the inclusion criteria means that interpretation of results must be exercised with caution. This review may provide policy makers with reliable scientific evidences for better management practice and it is hoped that the findings will support the planning of future researches in this field.