Sarawak’s water demand to hit 2,400mil litre per day by 2030
The state will require a reserve margin of at least 20% of the capacity of its existing water treatment plants.
Sarawak utilities and telecommunications minister Julaihi Narawai says several critical main projects need to be implemented immediately to meet the expected increase in water demand. (Bernama pic)
KUCHING: Projected water demand in Sarawak in 2030 will increase by 2,400 million litres per day (MLD) from the current demand of 2,060 MLD, says state utilities and telecommunications minister Julaihi Narawai.
He said the projection was based on the Sarawak Water Supply and Water Grid Master Plan.
To ensure adequate reserves, he said Sarawak requires a reserve margin of at least 20% of the capacity of its existing water treatment plants.
“Currently, several major water treatment plants are operating at a low margin reserve rate such as the Batu Kitang water treatment plant in Kuching, which is at a rate of 12%, and the Salim water treatment plant in Sibu, which is only at 1%.
“Therefore, several critical main projects need to be implemented immediately to meet the expected increase in water demand,” he said when winding up the debate for his ministry at the state assembly sitting here today.
Julaihi said that with the upgrading of the Batu Kitang water treatment plant, which is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of this year, the plant’s production capacity could increase to 868 MLD compared to the current 764 MLD.
“As for the upgrading of the Batu Kitang water treatment plant, it will help increase the plant’s production capacity to 968 MLD by 2026.
“The construction of the first phase of the new water treatment plant in Landeh, Kuching, which is currently in the planning stage, is estimated to have a capacity of 200 MLD, while the upgrading of the Salim water treatment plant, scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2026, will increase capacity from 150 MLD to 300 MLD,” he said.
Julaihi said the ministry was also implementing a project to replace old and dilapidated pipes in the state, involving a total allocation of RM1.085 billion, of which RM247 million has been allocated for this year alone.
“A stretch of 2,742km of old and dilapidated pipelines are still used in the water distribution system in Sarawak. This is the main cause of the high rate of non-revenue water, which averages 43%,” he said.
