Malaysian Rural Water Supply Schemes, Malaysia

Key features:

• Biwater worked in conjunction with the Malaysian Government to ensure every region of Malaysia was provided with potable water.
  
• The project attracted the largest aid grant ever provided by the British Government.
  
• The use of local resources was maximised.
  
• Biwater used its extensive manufacturing capabilities and provided equipment to the value of £100 million for this project.
  
• Biwater maintained the plants and facilities once operational using locally employed contractors trained by Biwater specialists.

Upper Muar dam, Malaysia In 1985, four million of Malaysia's 14 million population did not have access to piped potable water. To address this growing problem the Malaysian Government made a commitment to provide a clean water supply for approximately fifty per cent of its people living in 'water stress areas' by the year 2000. An extensive investigation was undertaken by Biwater and, following approval of its proposals, it formed a joint venture company Antah Biwater (ABJV). ABJV was responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of the rural water schemes that covered Peninsular and East Malaysia. Biwater was responsible for the construction of 134 schemes. The design for each was tailored to meet the area it would serve. A typical scheme incorporated a river intake, a water treatment plant with a capacity of 1500 m³/hr and a distribution system including supply pipework, remote reservoirs and pumping stations.

In addition to the supply schemes, Biwater constructed four large raw water dams with capacities that ranged from 500,000 m³ to 50 million m³. Biwater assisted the Malaysian Government in establishing the most efficient form of construction finance, which included grant aid from the British Government and an export credit loan supported by the Export Credit Guarantee Department. An integral part of the project was the training of the client's operations staff to ensure that each facility could be operated efficiently and safely. The training was undertaken by 'trainer training' in the UK, followed by extensive classroom and 'on the job' training in Malaysia. To ensure that all schemes were correctly operated and maintained, Biwater specialists worked with locally trained staff and selected local contractors for a period of five years. One of three training schools constructed as part of the Malaysian Rural Water Supply Schemes

Summary:

Location:	Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak	Maintenance Period:	5 years
Client:	Jabatan Kerja Raya Malaysia (JKR)	Scope of Work:	Water treatment plants, dams, reservoirs, river intakes, boreholes
Construction Period:	6 years	Completion Date:	1992