Non-revenue water issue needs to be tackled holistically, involves huge capital expense, says minister

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — The issue of non-revenue water (NRW) requires a continuous and holistic solution as well as a huge capital expenditure (CAPEX), Natural Resource, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said.

He said the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) reported last year that the national average NRW was 37.2 per cent, resulting in a waste of 7.084 million litres of treated water daily with a total oss of around RM2 billion a year.

“We realise that the national water supply sector faces various challenges, including a high NRW rate. NRW is treated water that does not reach consumers and cannot be billed due to leaking pipes or non-functioning meters.

“To help overcome the financial losses faced by water operators, the federal government has implemented the National NRW Reduction programme, beginning from the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) till the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), involving an overall allocation of over RM2 billion,” he said as he presented a reimbursement payment to Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) under the National NRW Reduction programme Approach 2 for 2021 here today.

Under Approach 2, the federal government has prepared an allocation of RM1.371 billion in matching grants to help water operators overcome the NRW issue more effectively and sustainably, and involves states with an NRW rate of under 40 per cent, namely Melaka, Penang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Terengganu and Selangor.

In his speech, Nik Nazmi thanked Air Selangor for reducing NRW rates by 0.5 per cent to 28 per cent in 2021 and successfully earning 50 per cent from the NRW programme expenditure for meeting their target.

The achievement was not easy, he said, as it was not the first time Air Selangor had done so, having met the programme’s target for three consecutive years since 2019.

“In terms of cost, the expenditure by Air Selangor for the three years is over RM558 million. This also means Air Selangor qualifies for a reimbursement totaling RM362.4 million from the federal government under the programme for the period,” he said, adding that the impact of Selangor’s NRW rate on the national NRW rate was significant, as with each one per cent reduction by the state contributes to around a drop of 0.3 percent to the national rate.

He also congratulated Ranhill SAJ for achieving the reduced NRW rate target for 2021, with a reduction of 1.6 per cent, to 25.1 per cent, and receiving a reimbursement of RM142.3 million, or 75 per cent of the NRW programme expenditure.

“I also hope the successes of Air Selangor dan Ranhill SAJ will motivate other water operators to carry out efforts to achieve reductions in NRW rates,” he added. — Bernama