KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- The membrane water filtration technology suggested by Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to treat ...
MEMBRANE WATER FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY MORE SUITABLE FOR INDUSTRY, SAYS EXPERT Date: 11-11-2012 Author: / STR SHY MIS HA WATER-MEMBRANE
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- The membrane water filtration technology suggested by Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to treat water is not suitable for household use because it is a wastewater filtration system for industrial use, says an expert. Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Sabri said membrane technology was often used by industries to process used water before it is flushed out into the existing water system. "Membranes can also be used to process sewage water because sewage water is part of wastewater," he told Bernama here. He said the technology could be used to clean water for recycling by an industry or factory. "Normally, it is for factory operations, such as rubber factories which require high water usage. Then water is reprocessed and used back in the factory," he added. Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin, who is a senior lecturer, said the Selangor government failed to see an important aspect of using membrane technology which was that the system required raw water. "How can we process water if we do not have supply of raw water? The issue is do we have enough raw water to process into clean water?" On statements by Selangor government leaders that the state had adequate source of raw water, Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin said many people came to that assumption based on the fact that Malaysia had many rivers and record high rainfall. "But, do we collect the rainfall to be processed'," he asked. He said that if the Selangor government wanted to use the membrane technology, it should impose a regulation for all industries in the state to use the technology to resolve some of the problems on raw water. Dr Zaharuddin said if membrane technology was used as an alternative, the state government also had to consider the cost involved in having to replace the existing equipment. During an interview in the "Soal Jawab" programme aired by TV3 recently, the executive director of the Water Supply Department, National Water Management Commission (SPAN), Marzuki Mohammad, said the cost of treating water using membrane technology was higher by five to six folds than using a conventional treatment plant. Dr Zaharuddin said he found it puzzling why the Selangor government insisted on using membrane technology from Canada when Malaysia also had the expertise. "We have our own membrane technolgy centres at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah," he added. -- BERNAMA STR SHY MIS HA
