KUALA LUMPUR: A paper on a new national policy for non-revenue water (NRW) will be presented to the Government by the end of the year to tackle the high level of water loss.
Deputy Energy, Green Technology and Water minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the national average loss of NRW was between 35% and 36% for several years now and it was a matter of grave concern for the Government.
Mahdzir said his ministry was in the final stages of drafting the policy.
He said NRW had been a long-standing major problem confronting the water supply, resulting in a financial loss which had not been dealt with effectively to date.
“The fact that some water authorities only manage to generate revenue from 60% or less of the bulk of water they produced means that greater attention and effort are required to address the high NRW loss,” said Mahdzir in his opening speech at the Water Loss Asia 2014 conference and exhibition yesterday.
He said the ministry had identified NRW as a matter to be given top priority and requested the National Water Services Commission (SPAN), together with water operators and key stakeholders, to “take the bull by the horn” to come to a consensus with a comprehensive action plan for NRW reduction.
Mahdzir said that efficient delivery of water services and reduction of NRW could be achieved.
He added that the new funding model of Water Asset Management Company had shown some significant improvements in states such as Negeri Sembilan and Johor.
Some states such as Penang and Malacca, he said, had been able to maintain its NRW at 18.2% and 22.1% respectively.
According to the SPAN website, several states saw high NRW pumped out of treatment plants last year.
They are Perlis (62.4%), Sabah (53.2%), Kelantan (53.1%), Pahang (52.7%) and Kedah (50.9%).
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