‘Dirty water’ possible solution for data centres
JOHOR BARU: Johor will work with a data centre to harvest water from one of the state’s most polluted rivers for its operations, says state executive councillor Lee Ting Han (pic).
The Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman said it was among the steps being taken by the state government to encourage data centres to use alternative water sources.
“Since June last year, the state has been encouraging data centres to use alternative water sources rather than Ranhil SAJ’s supply, as a precautionary measure.
“This is to ensure sufficient water supply for consumers in view of the many data centres being set up in Johor.
“Using alternative water sources requires some investment and the first project was approved by Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz last week.
“We will work with a data centre to harvest water from one of the most polluted rivers in the state.
“After this, we will continue collaborating with different data centre providers to use alternative water (sources). I believe this will reduce water wastage and consumption,” he said when interviewed.
All data centres setting up operations were subject to the Johor Data Centre Coordinating Committee’s approval.
Among the conditions that would be reviewed include the provider’s efficiency of their water and power usage, he added.
“We have been encouraging data centres to use alternative water for their operations – such as reclaimed water from sewage plants, treated river water, and rainwater.
“Another alternative we are exploring is desalinated seawater,” Lee said in response to National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chairman Charles Santiago’s reminder to establish regulations on water usage limits for industries, including data centres.
On Jan 21, Santiago told a press conference that data centres are known to use large amounts of water and power for cooling.
The SPAN chairman added that Johor had received 52 data centre construction applications so far.
Lee also highlighted the Budget 2025 announcement about a project in Sedili, which is expected to “significantly increase” water supply for the people.
“The off-river storage project, which blocks water in suitable areas to increase the yield, will significantly increase the water supply in southern Johor once completed in 2028.
“There is a conservative projection that it will increase the water supply by 600 to 1,000 million litres per day – this will be enough for consumer, commercial, industrial and agricultural usage.”
Meanwhile, Lee said Johor has electricity reserves of up to 50%, sufficient to power the state.
He said UEM Lestra Bhd, the green investment arm of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, had announced its investment to develop a large-scale solar project in Segamat on Jan 17 while other solar projects were being reviewed.
By YEE XIANG YUN
Monday, 27 Jan 2025
