Thursday - 6 February 2003 Straits Times reprinted a Malaysian
New Report that:-
Malaysia is testing a
plan that relies on the use of recycled water from households to
boost supplies, as it prepares for a possible water shortage in 20
years' time.
The Malay-language daily, Beritat Harian Malaysia, reported thata a
team of engineers from Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang and the
Drainage and Irrigation Department was working on a pilot project
to process used water from homes.
At the project's launch on Tuesday, spokesman Nor Azazi Zakaria
said the recycled water could "be used for many domestic needs
except for drinking".
He said the team would monitor the results of the Bio-Ecological
Drainage System over a 10-year period.
There is a possibility that if successful, the model would be
implemented nationwide.
Dr Nor Azazi said recycling water was a cheap way to obtain clean
water.
"This can help save up to 90 percent of our piped water from going
to waste, as we only use about 10 percent for drinking."
He added that the development of the system was significant because
of a need to find alternative water sources ahead of a looming
worldwide water shortage in 2025.
Last year alone, Malaysia approved more than 62 water projects
costing RM 51.9 Billion (S$23.7 billion) under a master plan to
meet rapidly growing deman for water.
The projects were aimed at meeting the expected increase in the
daily demand for water at a rate of 6 percent every year until
2010.
In 1997, seven of Malaysia's 13 states were hit by a water shortage
brought on by a severe drought.
Singapore has also put in place a system of tapping new sources,
including reclaimed water and plans for a seawater desalination
facility.
It will be quite an irony that they will also have to depend on
their own version of NeWater by 2010, although the present intent
is to recover household waste water for domestic use only, and NOT
for drinking.
We may have the last and loudest laugh, when they were earlier
laughing at SGP for drinking our own "piss".
At least the SGP piss had come from drinking cleaner water than
what has been delivered to most Malaysian consumers throughout
Malaysia, except for Johor Bahru and its suburbs -.which largely
depend on the SGP treated water sold to Johor.
