Continuous monitoring effort is required to manage non-revenue water (NRW) in the country, said Malaysian Water Association president Ahmad Zahdi Jamil.
“It’s not a project, it’s a process … Even if we have found an ideal solution to bring down NRW in the country, without continuous monitoring, the NRW can rise again,” he explained to StarBiz after the opening of Water Loss Asia 2010 conference.
Themed “Managing Water Loss the Asian Way”, the conference attracted more than 300 delegates from 14 countries such as China, India, Iran, Eropean Union and the United States.
Reducing NRW – or water that’s been produced, but lost due to leakages, theft or inefficient distribution among other causes, before it reaches consumers – in the country has been mandated as one of the critical key performance indexes of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water.
“NRW is a profound issue in many developing countries,” the ministry’s water supply director-general Dr Hasnul Mohamad Salleh told the conference.
For instance, according to the Asian Development Bank, NRW in the Asian region is conservatively estimated at 30% to 60% of utilities’ inputs, or around US$9bil each year.
Malaysia’s NRW is currently estimated to average at 36% of utilities’ inputs, while that of Singapore at 5%.
“Our Government is very concerned about the present level of NRW, and we want to bring it down to a realistic and economic target to mitigate unnecessary wastage and damage to the environment,” he said.
The Government had indicated that it intended to bring the NRW level down to 25% by 2020.
Among efforts that have been in place to lower NRW in Malaysia were replacement of pipes and old meters, as well as the incorporation of Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) to oversee and finance water projects in the country.
“Changing meters is the way forward; pipe replacement can be very expensive and cannot guarantee effectiveness in reducing NRW,” Hasnul said.
“And to manage active leakage control, we must invest in human capital, developing the necessary skills and expertise in our people for this area,” he added.
Ahmad Zahdi pointed out that while NRW was still a challenge in Malaysia, the situation has progressively improved over the years. For instance, he pointed to Johor, where NRW had reduced from 40% five years ago to the present average of 29%.
He told StarBiz that Sabah at present, was the state with the highest level of NRW at 55%, while Penang had the lowest of less than 20% on average. He hoped that at the end of the two-day conference, where thinkers and industry players congregate to share their experience and knowledge, a viable solution could be found to manage water losses in the region.
