HULU LANGAT: Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) has set its objective in 2024 to help improve the water condition for states with high non-revenue water (NRW) and low treated water reserve margin.
PAAB chairman Datuk Seri Jaseni Maidinsa said the states are Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Pahang.
Among the four states, he said Kelantan's supply coverage only stood at 70 per cent compared to other states.
"PAAB will go all out to help these states," he told reporters at a press conference in conjunction with the company's certificate presentation ceremony for its project's recognition in the Malaysia Book of Records.
PAAB chief executive officer Zulkiflee Omar said its yearly average expenditure for repair and upgrade of the water piping system is between RM800 million and RM1.1 billion.
Since its establishment, he said the company had completed RM5 billion worth of projects.
"This year our spending will be about the same amount. We will focus on ways to help Kelantan because we know it faces a lot of water suply system problem," he said.
Jaseni added that PAAB has four main focus to ensure water operators in the country are successful.
The company needs to ensure the water quality complies with the Health Ministry and World Health Organisation's standards.
PAAB is also focusing on NRW whereby most of the problems stammed from outdated asbestos cement (AC) pipes.
"In Malaysia, every state has thousands of kilometres of AC pipes so we are helping the states to replace these pipes to reduce NRW," he said.
PAAB aims for Malaysia to achieve 100 per cent supply coverage as well as enabling water operators to be profitable.
Meanwhile, the Langat 2 Water Supply Project's Package 6A (P6A) has been recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records for longest dual-function treated water tunnels and longest twin parallel treated water tunnels.
For the dual-function, the proposed Hulu Langat-Ampang Tunnel comprised two nominal 3.2-metre clear diameter tunnels, each approximately 2.2 kilometres in length.
These tunnels are equipped with reinforced concrete lining and will serve for water storage abd conveyance.
PAAB said this approach ensures efficient water distribution while enhancung the region'a water supply infrastructure.
Meanwhile, P6A's tunnels set a new becnhmark for spanning 2.2 km. Their parallel alignment allows for redundancy, mitigating the risk of leaks during operation.
iINFRA Sdn Bhd is the main contractor for the Langat 2 Project P6A.
The project, which was funded by PAAB, aims to enhance water supply capabilities byvteansferring treated water from the Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer project.
Once operational, these tunnels will distribute 290 million litres per day (MLD) of treated water to Ampang and AU3 areas.
"The completion of Langat 2 Phase 1 with a treated capacity of 1,130 MLD has increase the existing treated water reserve margin of Selangor state from 12.61 per cent to 18.72 per cent, an increase of 6.11 per cent," said Jaseni.