Currently, surface water accounts for more than 98 per cent of water consumed in Malaysia which is a level of dependence that needs to be diluted and urgently addressed, especially since surface water is easily affected by extreme weather conditions.
This is a matter of grave concern for the whole country and all responsible organisations should be looking into addressing this imbalance in our national water supply.
The utilisation of groundwater will reduce the dependency on surface water resources and improve the sustainability of water supply services in the face of impending climate change as well as aiding the conservation of the environment.
Groundwater offers a more reliable and sustainable source of water as long as it is abstracted sustainably. These include proper control and monitoring activities as well as utilizing appropriate methods and technology.
The district contains significant fracture and fault zones associated with the Main Range Granite in the east of the area and to the metamorphic sediments abutting the granite. These represent regions of fractured rocks containing potentially good quality water, and are the main target areas for the development of groundwater resources.
The advantages of Batang Padang for large scale sustainable groundwater development are as follows:
2 nd stage - 500 Mld Groundwater Supply The consultant completed the feasibility study on the 500 Mld sustainable groundwater supply project in May 2009. It was concluded that it is feasible to abstract 500 Mld from the southern part of the Batang Padang District (the area to the south of Bidor).
Preparation is being made for the appointment of the consultant for the development of the remaining 450 Mld sustainable groundwater supply and detailed design of water treatment as well as engineering infrastructure.
Another rule is that it costs 1.5-2 times more to establish groundwater wells than direct surface water abstraction sites. When it comes to the construction of dam, groundwater development is a better option because we can do away with environmental and social impacts consequent to the inundation of pristine forests that affect both flora and fauna as well as the displacement of the population.
The often quoted groundwater transfer project is the Great Man-Made River Project (GMMR) in Libya. Studies were conducted to establish whether it was more economical to move to the source of water in the desert or to transfer water to existing population centres. It was concluded that the latter was a more viable option. In addition, comparisons were made to other water supply alternatives (desalination, transportation by ships or transferring portable water by pipeline from southern Europe), and the results showed that it was more economical and feasible to transfer water from the desert in the south to the population centres in the north. The quantity of water obtained per Libyan Dinar is as follows:
GMMR Project consists of 1,300 wells and can produce 6,500 Mld.
Other than Denmark, groundwater is also widely used in several other developed countries such as Germany, Switzerland, England, Australia, South Korea and the United States among others. It is widely considered a sustainable source of water when recharge rates are taken into consideration and monitored as groundwater abstraction is controlled by the authorities and the operator is required to monitor the impact of the groundwater abstraction on the environment.
There are some negative consequences from groundwater utilisation in the developed economies but these are small compared to the contributions made by groundwater to the socio-economic progress of these nations. Generally, these negative consequences occur under these circumstances:
The annual direct recharge rate (the annual rainwater that infiltrates into the ground) is 1,935 Mld and the groundwater storage or reserve is at 1,369 billion litres. These EIA reports are in line with studies undertaken by United Nation agencies, which concluded that over 95% of the Earth’s useable fresh water is stored as groundwater.
DOE Perak had formed a panel of experts to evaluate the Sime Darby EIA report before issuing its conditional approval. Sime Darby had to comply with 23 conditions to realise the groundwater project, covering the investigation, development and operational phases.
The comprehensive conditions issued by DOE Perak address all known impacts from the groundwater project. They covered all concerns raised from over-abstraction of groundwater resources, such as declining water table (it may affect rivers and lakes), saline water intrusion (it may lead to degradation of groundwater quality), occurrences of sinkholes as well as land subsidence (that may cost lives and damage to properties and infrastructures).
EIA is a planning tool and the decision to proceed with any project is based on the findings of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.
However, it is valid if the abstraction is done in unconfined aquifers and when undertaken close to rivers and other surface water bodies. But the impact due to groundwater abstraction on river flows is negligible compared to surface water abstraction from both direct abstraction from rivers and artificial reservoirs behind dams.
For the Sime Darby project, work are only done in confined aquifers as shallow coastal aquifers can be safely developed by controlling the rate of groundwater abstraction and through the use of horizontal wells.
Groundwater abstraction from coastal confined aquifers is safe and they are many noted discoveries of freshwater springs in the seabed. Offshore drilling for oil also noted the occurrences of freshwater at depths below the seabed.
Occurrence of sinkholes normally resulted from groundwater abstraction in karstic limestone aquifers and it is associated with high groundwater abstraction and improper well design.
Sime Darby is promoting Green Technology through the sustainable development of groundwater. Statement has been issued in Europe that after more than 250 years of developing public water supply systems, it was concluded that the most sustainable way of sourcing water for public water supply is through groundwater development.
Sime Darby regards sustainable groundwater development as green technology because of the following benefits: its impact on rivers and lakes is much less compared to direct water abstraction from rivers and lakes, and; it does not involve inundation of pristine lands when compared to the construction of dams for surface water development (no inundation of forests and displacement of people and wildlife).
Furthermore, the production of sludge from groundwater treatment is very much less compared to the sludge produced from river water treatment because groundwater is crystal clear. Studies have indicated that groundwater treatment produces 21g sludge per cubic metre of treated water whilst river water treatment produces 150 g sludge per cubic metre of treated water.
Likewise, the invitation for a familiarization tour of the groundwater technology in South Korea from November 1-6, 2009 is to expose members of the NGOs, media and government about the technology that has been proven successful in extracting groundwater in other parts of Asia. Sime Darby plans to apply this technology to its own project in Batang Padang, Perak.
Sime Darby, as one of government-owned companies, has never practiced such disdainful acts since its founding 99 years ago. We are proud of our successes all these years, all of which were based on our hard work, excellent business acumen and foresight.
Sime Darby ploughs back between RM50 million and RM100 million every year to take care of the environment (protection of endangered wildlife species, planting of 5 million forest trees, etc) as well as help the needy, the underprivileged, the poor and the destitute through financial and other means. We are proud of our good track record in this area and intend to do more in the future.
Sime Darby wishes to reiterate that the groundwater project is not business driven but a sincere contribution by Sime Darby to the nation towards enhancing the reliability of public water supply services in the country since groundwater is less affected by dry weather compared to river water, besides conserving the environment that is, in relation to minimal impact on river flow, lesser production of sludge from the water treatment plant and, no loss of biodiversity and displacement of people consequent to dam construction.
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