SELANGAU, April 15 (Bernama) -- Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, officiated the launch of an ultrafiltration system for drinking water developed by an engineering team from Universiti Malaya (UM) for Rumah Senabong in Selangau, Sarawak on 9 April 2016. The event, which was also attended by Associate Professor Dr. Arham Abdullah, Director of Industry Relations Division, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, was organized together with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Malaysia Innovation Hub, which have been collaborating with UM on implementation of this system in Sarawak.
 
According to the “Water Services Industry Performance Report 2011” issued by SPAN (Suruhanjaya Pengurusan Air Negara), ten percent of residents in rural areas within Malaysia still lack access to a safe drinking water supply. Within Sarawak alone, there are 8,000 communities that require drinking water treatment solution. Supplying clean drinking water to remote locations is a logistical challenge. The UM team leaders, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua and Prof. Ir. Mohamed Azlan Hussain, from the Department of Chemical Engineering. Faculty of Engineering, UM identified maintenance and power supply as key obstacles to a solution. To overcome this, self-cleaning routines and solar power were incorporated into the design of the ultrafiltration system.
 
Development of the UF system was funded through grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, and resulted in a working prototype that has been tested at several locations in Malaysia, including Kuala Krai and Gua Musang, during the flooding at the end  of 2014 and early 2015. At present two units are being used in Sungai Linggi and Kuala Sungai, Gua Musang to supply water to the remote village there with a population of about 300 each. This is an example of continuous technology transfer for public good being advocated by UM Centre for Innovation and Commercialization (UMCIC). With the successful launch at Rumah Senabong, the system is a promising solution to rural drinking water supply in Sarawak and beyond.

Source : Universiti Malaya
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Name : Salina Binti Mohamed Suhaimi
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Focal Officer (CEO Faculty Programme)
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Tel : (603) 7967 7351 ext 2305
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Email : salina.ms@um.edu.my
 
--BERNAMA