KOTA KINABALU: Students of a school in rural Pitas district have reportedly been using polluted water for quite some time due to the school’s sewage system not functioning properly.
There had been reports of SMK Bongkul students suffering from skin irritation among other external issues as the E.coli bacteria level was high in their main water source.
Motivated to assist these students, a team of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students have teamed up with their lecturers to design a water treatment installation system using engineering modules that can help address this issue.
UMS deputy vice chancellor (Research and Innovation), Prof Dr Rosalam Sebatly said this project led by Dr Nur Zaida Zahari from the Science and Technology Faculty, recently installed this new micro water treatment system at the school.
“We were informed that prior to this, many of the students suffered from skin problems believed due to the tainted water, and now, some 180 students are set to gain from this project,” said Prof Rosalam.
He said this new system not only treats and filters water, it is also equipped with a smart monitoring technology based on Internet of Things (IoT) which allows the UMS main campus to directly monitor the school’s water quality.
He said this is part of UMS’ Living Lab initiative, which among other things, is aimed at boosting the wellbeing of rural folks.
Prof Dr Fatimah Ahmedy from the Research Management Centre UMS recently conducted an audit and visit to the site to assess the efficiency of this treatment system and its impact towards the local communities.
“The success of this project is one of our best examples of how university research can be translated into real benefits for the community,” said Prof Rosalam.
“This project proves that research done by UMS does not stop in labs, but reaches the communities who need them,” he said.
He said UMS was planning to improvise and upgrade the system using the latest technologies.
Prof Rosalam said they look forward to and welcome any form of collaboration with industry and corporate players in the upgrading of the sewage system and septic tanks of schools through their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
He said this is in line with UMS’ continued commitment to live up to its role as change makers for sustainable development and wellbeing of rural communities in Sabah.
