The black coloured and smelly water in a flood catchment pond and Sungai Langat, Selangor was not due to effluent discharge from a factory processing recycled paper in Banting, said Department of Environment (DOE) director-general Norlin Jaafar.

However, she said the incident was caused by overflowing grey water and sewage from a kongsi house in August this year.

According to her, industrial effluents from the factory which were treated in the Industrial Effluent Processing System (SPEP) and the effluent samples taken by...