Coordinated measures key to plugging water leakages

THE country continues to lose billions of ringgit every year to leaking pipes and unmetered water. Known as non-revenue water (NRW), these losses drain the system before a single drop reaches consumers.

In 2025, we failed to meet the target of reducing NRW to 31% (from 37.1% in 2024), a shortfall Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof attributed to the sheer scale of the problem and the limited resources available to state water operators. At current investment levels, industry players say replacing ageing pipes and bringing NRW under control could take decades.