Dr Rundi (centre) speaking at the press conference while Dr Abdul Rahman (left) and Alice look on.
KUCHING: The Ministry of Utilities together with the State Planning Unit (SPU) is currently in the midst of finalising and refining the master plan for the State Water Grid.
Utilities Minister Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said with the desktop study for the water grid project now completed, the State Water Grid is expected to be implemented in the next two years.
“We have done a desktop study of the whole water supply needs of the state whereby we have split it up into the northern, central and southern regions and we are going to use anchor treatment plants and agencies such as Kuching Water Board, Sibu Water Board and Laku Management Sdn Bhd to be the main anchors.
“Before this, if it (supply of water) has not been linked up, it is now going to be linked up from all the way north to south and all the systems will be able to support each other,” he told a press conference after leading the 4th International Sustainable Energy Summit (Ises) 2018 delegation to pay a courtesy call on Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg at his office in Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.
He was asked to comment on the current status of the State Water Grid following the recent statement by Abang Johari that around RM7 billion would be spent on setting up the state-wide water grid, which can be recouped from water revenue.
Dr Rundi pointed out that the state’s water issues were mainly on distribution, aging pipes as well as treatment plants that are currently over capacity.
“Our pipes are around 40 years old and it is really embedded in the ground so we have to do proper mapping by using drones which can penetrate 800 feet down and map out which pipes are salvageable or not.
“This is not going to be a cheap venture for us but now we have to find ways on how to earn more money to make sure we can resolve this problem and the State Water Grid is the way forward for the future,” he remarked, adding that the allocation of RM7 billion for the water grid project would suffice to resolve the state’s water issues in the next ten years.
Through the water grid system, Dr Rundi said the ministry was also looking at the state’s water resources such as rivers and dams where water can be supplied either through river basin transfer or through pipes water transfer to assist in supplying all the raw water intake.
“We are also looking at our non-revenue water (NRW) water loss and identifying stressed areas and coming up with immediate short, medium or long-term solutions so that in the next five to 15 years, the issue of water shortage, low water pressure or inadequate water would be a matter of the past,” he added.
Also present at the press conference were Assistant Minister of Rural Electricity Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi and Ministry of Utilities permanent secretary Dato Alice Jawan.