Six students from the Environmental and Life Sciences Programme of Faculty of Science, UBD doing Masters research and FYP under the supervision of Dr. Pooja Shivanand participated in an educational study tour at the Department of Drainage and Sewerage (DDS), Brunei for three consecutive days, from 8th – 10th January 2019. The visit comprised of an extensive discussion with the Department officers and provided the students with an opportunity to visit the sewerage laboratory and treatment plants.

Prior to the on-site visits, a brief presentation on the history and an overview of sewerage plants was delivered by Alwi Bin Hj Md Yussof at DDS, a Senior Engineer at the headquarters of Public Works Department. The briefing provided the students with a better understanding on the crucial treatment processes of DDS and the role of the Department in providing continuous clean sewerage and drainage system in Brunei while ensuring high quality environment and living in Brunei.

The first sewerage system was introduced in Brunei town in 1960s, as stated by Alwi. Till date, Brunei has improved its sanitation by sewage treatment process by 93% whereby, 58% of housing areas are using a centralized system and 35% are using septic tank systems. It was mentioned that a common issue that interrupts the system functioning are careless public disposal of plastic bags, bottles, sanitary towels and other wastes.