Construction of WTPs is set to augment drinking water supply-

In Malaysia, access to drinking water is nearly universal and is available at affordable prices, although there have been problems in water supply in recent years. Large parts of the country are severely affected by erratic climate conditions and there is considerable level of non-revenue water (NRW). As of 2013, over 95 per cent of the population is served by the water supply industry, according to data available from the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN), the National Water Services Commission. Water requirement for the nation has been recorded at over 9,854 million litres per day (mld) in the past year with the highest consumption recorded in the state of Selangor at 2,989 mld. This demand has been met mainly by installation of over 488 water treatment plants (WTPs) across the country. Compared to other developing countries in the world, these are significant achievements.

A considerable part of this success can be attributed to the series of reforms that were introduced in the water supply sector of peninsular Malaysia by the federal government from 2006 onwards. Prior to these reforms, the industry was marked by high levels of debt, poor efficiency, and poor cost recovery by the various service providers. To make the sector more efficient, create a sustainable funding mechanism, and improve the customer orientation of these service providers, the government enacted the Water Services Industry Act in 2006. Under this policy, a national water company, Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB), or Water Asset Management Company, was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance. PAAB was made responsible for construction, improvement, and refurbishment of the overall water infrastructure and all other assets in relation to water supply systems in the country.

PAAB is also responsible for sourcing competitive financing for the further development of the nation’s water assets. The system envisaged was such that there was a clear distribution of roles between the federal and state governments where the centre owned the water assets and leased them out to state-level water operators for operation, maintenance, and distribution purposes. PAAB took over the existing water assets from all public and private local water operators at negotiated values. In addition, the National Water Services Commission Act was enacted to set up SPAN as an autonomous regulatory agency. SPAN is responsible for issuing licences to water operators, mainly state water companies and private operators. It also monitors their performance in service delivery according to several standards and key performance indicators that are specified by the agency.

However, over the past few years, Malaysia has persistently faced several problems related to the supply of water. One of the major issues in the sector at present is the continued inefficiency in water production and distribution as demonstrated by a relatively high level of NRW. For the nation as a whole, NRW was about 37 per cent in 2013. It is as high as 62.4 per cent in the state of Perlis. The other, more pressing, problem is that of an imminent shortfall in water provision. There has been an increase in population and rapid industrial development in the country over the past few years, leading to additional pressure on available water resources. The country’s major dependence on rainfall as a source of water has aggravated the situation. In February 2014, the country faced a drinking water crisis due to the El Nino phenomenon.

To address the issue of drinking water shortage, the federal government has undertaken several projects related to construction, refurbishment, and expansion of WTPs across the country. These include construction of the 25 mld Kaki Wong WTP in Sarawak and the 22 mld Pekan Kota Bekud WTP in Sabah, and upgradation of the Semanggar WTP in Johor and Sunagi Dua WTP in Pulau Pinang. The table provides statistics on the total number of WTPs in each state as of 2013.

Langat 2 WTP

According to estimates (April 2014), the 6.7 million consumers in the capital territory of Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas of Selangor and Putrajaya require about 4,351 mld of water. While the total production capacity of the 34 WTPs that serve the region is 4,686 mld, the plants are highly dependent on the Selangor dam, which provides about 60 per cent of the raw water conveyed to the WTPs. However, the dam is filled mainly by rainfall, so water supply to the fast developing region is adversely affected by climatic changes.

To remedy this situation, the Malaysian government embarked on the Transfer of Raw Water from Pahang to Selangor scheme aimed at fulfilling the water requirements of citizens until 2025. The RM 3 billion scheme involves channelling water from the Semantan river in Pahang to the Langat river in Selangor. Under the project, raw water will be diverted from the Semantan river into a 44.6 km long tunnel and channelled to the Langat river for treatment at seven existing WTPs. In addition, it entails the construction of the 1,130 mld Langat 2 WTP. The construction of the WTP was scheduled to begin in 2010 but the project has faced much delay due to political reasons. It has recently begun to gather pace after the acute situation brought on by El Nino. In April 2014, PAAB awarded the project for construction of the WTP to a 36:34:30 per cent joint venture of Salcon Berhad, MMC Corporation Berhad, and Ahmad Zaki Resources Berhad. The RM 994 million contract involves the construction of the WTP in two phases with a nominal treated water production of 565 mld in each phase. The construction is scheduled to be completed by April 2017, followed by operations and maintenance for three months. Two committees comprising officials from the state government and the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water have also been set up. These committees will resolve matters related to land, permits, and raw water supply to ensure timely completion of the plant.

The way forward

While several WTP projects are being undertaken to boost drinking water supply in the country, the government is also increasing focus on implementing alternative measures such as curbing NRW. To address NRW issues, SPAN has formed a task force with the responsibility of developing a national NRW action plan, reviewing NRW programmes, and ensuring that NRW reduction programmes are implemented in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. Other measures that can be used to ensure sufficient provision of treated water include implementation of advanced technology at existing plants, upgrading existing dams and reservoirs to increase catchment potential, and regularisation of tariffs to encourage water conservation. Since supply of water is regulated by state governments, it is heavily subsidised. Currently, tariffs in most states are below full cost recovery and do not reflect the true cost of water production. This encourages careless and wasteful use of water. In Kuala Lumpur, households pay only RM 0.57 per cubic metre of water as of April 2014. In Selangor, water usage of up to 20 cubic metres per month is free.

Prominent organisations have also advocated the need for sensitising citizens to use water judiciously so as to curb rising demand. According to SPAN reports, the average water consumption in the country reached 212 litres per capita per day in 2012 while the World Health Organization has recommended 165 litres per capita per day. It has been estimated that bringing water usage down to 180 litres per capita per day could result in an additional treated water capacity of 1 billion litres, enough to ensure sufficient water supplies even during dry spells.