KUCHING: The state will adopt new technologies to further reduce its non-revenue water (NRW) to 20 per cent of the daily water production by 2015.

Assistant Public Utilities (Water Supply) Minister Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran said the present average NRW for the whole state was about 26 per cent and although it was very much below the national NRW of around 36 per cent the state government would try its best to achieve the 20 per cent target.

“It is going to be a very tough task but to ensure that everyone can enjoy reliable water supply we have to try our very best by adopting certain new technologies which can help us reduce our NRW.

“Applying intelligent smart pump controller is one of them. Of course there are other technologies that can be introduced apart from making sure that our pipes are properly installed to prevent water wastage,” he added.

Speaking to reporters after witnessing the presentation ceremony of the Pump Appreciation Day 2012 Global Award at Wisma Sumber Alam in Petrajaya yesterday, Entri said to successfully reduce the state’s NRW a holistic approach had to be worked out, including the enforcement aspect.

Saying the state’s NRW was mainly due to old pipelines, he cited meter tampering and illegal water connection as other contributing factors.

Although he could not provide any figure offhand he said incidences of meter tampering and illegal water tapping which mainly happened at construction sites were not very serious.

Nevertheless, he said, in order to find the most effective method to reduce the state’s NRW, the government was planning to bring all water suppliers and relevant bodies for a retreat in Sibu very soon.

“We are trying to get all the engineers to discuss what are the best technologies, methodologies or measures to be taken by not only water boards but also JKR (Public Works Department) for the reduction of our NRW,” he disclosed.

He said that at the moment only Sibu Water Board (SWB) was using the smart pump water supply system, which had proven to be very effective.

For this, he said, SWB rightfully deserved to receive the award.

The event was also attended by SWB chairman UbaidillahAbdul Latip, SWB general manager Daniel Wong Park Ing, ITT Corporation Asia Pacific vice president Bill Newman and Group Engineers Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Kuek Eng Mong.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/04/11/state-to-use-new-technology-to-stop-water-pilfering/#ixzz1sMGd6hRB