Quest to solve water scarcity in Malaysia
Dr Chee Chung Yee and Professor Helen Bartlett hold the agreement, with Dr Zalina Shari, Malaysia Green Building Confederation (left), and Professor Anthony Guo, Monash Malaysia.
A researcher from Monash Malaysia, Dr Poh Phaik Eong, has been successful in securing a three-month collaborative research agreement with a design and consulting company that provides solutions to domestic, commercial and industrial water treatment.
In the partnership with Bacteria Free Water Engineering (BACFREE), the topic of greywater treatment and reuse will be explored. Although Malaysia has high rainfall, a growing area of concern is freshwater scarcity.
Professor Helen Bartlett, Pro Vice Chancellor and President of Monash University Malaysia, said universities cannot work in isolation.
“For knowledge transfer and application to real-life issues, we must partner with industry specialists and this collaboration is more than a piece of paper. The outcome of the research is extremely relevant to solving the existing water shortage issue in Malaysia.”
Dr Poh, a chemical engineering lecturer at the Malaysia School of Engineering, believes the scarcity is attributable to industrialisation, population growth, urbanisation and climate change.
“The recent water rationing exercise around the Klang Valley illustrated that rather than depending on drastic measures to cope with water shortages, there is an urgent need to find a long-term sustainable solution to water scarcity,” Dr Poh said.
The agreement was signed by Professor Bartlett and the Technical Director of BACFREE, Dr Chee Chung Yee.