Reducing NRW a challenge to Sibu Water Board

SIBU: To achieve the target of 25 per cent non-revenue water ( NRW) set nationwide is really a challenge to the Sibu Water Board (SWB).

Its general manager Sudin Jaya said SWB has the programmes to realise the target but without sufficient government funding, it would not be able to do it.

“It all depends on the budget given to us. We may not be able to achieve it (target),” he told a press conference on SWB’’s Open Day and Customer Day in conjunction with World Water Day 2017 celebration here yesterday.

He said the biggest issue that SWB faced was the peat soil in most of the areas in Sibu, that caused leakages to the water pipes.

It was really a challenge for SWB to maintain the pipe to prevent leakages compared to any other places throughout Sarawak, he said.

“We have to use pile foundation to support our main pipes and this costs a lot of money,” he said, adding that leakages still occured as sedimentation was so extreme in certain parts of Sibu.

He said SWB’’s NRW last year stood at 33 per cent.

Meanwhile deputy general manager Lau Pon Yin said SWB welcomed public complaints on water supply issues which would help it to detect the water supply problem, especially leakages. He said sometimes leakages were caused by development projects, when tonnes of soils were dumped on the site to level the surface of the area, on top of the main pipe.

“This causes horizontal pressure to the pipe and eventually lead to leakages and when this happens, there is no way to know about it because the pipe is already covered by soil,” he said.

He said members of the public can make their complaints by calling SWB office or via Sibu Water Board Facebook account while further information on the open day can be obtained at www. sbw.gov.my, its Facebook account or by calling 084-211001 (office hours). — Bernama