As Malaysia positions itself as a hub in the Asian data centre market, it is essential to ensure that data centres do not exacerbate the country’s water stress but instead, create new opportunities to integrate non-potable water solutions.
This development follows the government’s recent data centre planning guidelines (GPP), designed to standardise and streamline the nation’s data centre development processes. It aims to promote sustainable growth of data centres while ensuring compliance with regulatory, technical, environmental, and operational standards. With data centres requiring significant volumes of water for cooling, it is crucial for Malaysia to utilise its water resources sustainably. This approach ensures that industry demands are met while preserving the country’s precious resources by utilising alternative water sources without relying on the potable water supply.
In this context, the national sewerage company, Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd stands ready to provide an option through reclaimed water generated from its treated bioeffluent.
IWK’s Chief Executive Officer, Narendran Maniam highlighted the company’s commitment to meeting the growing demand for sustainable water solutions. He explained that the company aims to implement water reclamation projects through strategic collaborations, with private sector, leveraging among others Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) approach to drive innovation and efficiency. This approach enables private companies to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the facilities for an agreed period, with the opportunity to recover investments throughout the project’s lifecycle.
“As Malaysia’s data centre industry continues to grow, there is so much potential for these data centres to utilise reclaimed water. Reclaimed water can help reduce the demand for potable water, easing pressure on the nation’s potable water resources, while also supporting sustainable practices and promoting the principles of a circular economy,” said Narendran.
Reclaimed water is treated effluent that has undergone additional treatment to make it suitable for reuse. After wastewater goes through IWK’s sewage treatment plant, it produces treated water known as treated effluent or bioeffluent. This bi-product can then be further purified to meet standards for non-potable applications, such as cooling in industrial processes or, in this case, for the use of data centres.
IWK is committed to supporting this sector with non-potable water solutions, building on the successful operation of Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) that has been providing reclaimed water since 2021.
“We have collaborated with Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor), through a special-purpose vehicle company, Central Water Reclamation Sdn. Bhd. (CWR) to jointly manage a WRP at Setia Alam. To date, the WRP has yielded 4 million litres per day (MLD) of reclaimed water for industrial use,” added Narendran.
IWK has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) and Syarikat Air Melaka Berhad (SAMB) to assess the feasibility of implementing water reclamation projects in Penang and Melaka. Additionally, IWK is working with water operators and stakeholders in Negeri Sembilan and Johor also to generate alternative water resources for non-potable applications.
Narendran added, “Through all these partnerships, the potential yield from reusing bioeffluent is expected to be substantial. We aim to contribute toward achieving the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA)’s strategic goal of supplying 200 MLD of reclaimed water by 2030.”
By partnering with the private sector through the BOT approach and developing additional WRPs in key locations targeted by data centres, Malaysia’s reuse of bioeffluent for non-potable uses is poised to expand meaningfully.
The company has adopted the tagline “New Life for Water,” which encapsulates all its initiatives to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and reflects its commitment to the environment by ensuring that the treated effluent discharged is clean, safe, and sustainable for nature.
IWK’s transformation to venture towards a more holistic wastewater management including resource recovery has not only created new business opportunities for the company but also served as a beacon of hope for a greener, more sustainable future for Malaysia.
IWK has taken a major step towards promoting a circular economy and improving the sustainability of the water services industry through its bioeffluent reuse initiative. With an estimated 6,400 MLD of treated effluent released from sewage treatment plants throughout Peninsular Malaysia, which is equivalent to over 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, there is tremendous potential for IWK to reclaim the treated effluent for non-potable use.
This strategy also aligns with the PETRA’s recently launched Pelan Hala Tuju Transformasi Air (AIR 2040), which focuses on enhancing the resilience of Malaysia’s water sector by promoting sustainable resource management and fostering economic growth through private sector involvement and technological advancements.
“It underscores our commitment to sustainable water management while providing an innovative solution for data centre players committed to ESG principles. Many international data centres are keen to adopt reclaimed water for cooling purposes, and we are ready to collaborate with these industry players to help them achieve their sustainability goals.”
“In doing so, we not only support the UN SDG objectives but also play a role in facilitating foreign investments in Malaysia, fostering sustainable economic growth in the local water sector and promoting responsible resource management,” he concluded.
