PETALING JAYA: An undergraduate’s thesis from years ago has now manifested in a sewerage water recycling system that holds big promises for farmers.
The recycled water can be used primarily to irrigate crops, not only giving farmers in dry regions a continuous supply of water but also to give respite to those who experience frequent droughts.
Wastewater has traditionally been used to irrigate crops in small, family-owned vegetable plots, but the water was never put through any recycling process.
A company called Kebun Kota Sdn Bhd has come up with a system that uses plants, algae and fungi to clean the water for other uses.
Hana Chua, who is manager of a project called Birumas, said in a collaboration with Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd, Kebun Kota would draw wastewater from a sewerage processing plant in Kuantan.
The treated water will then be piped to a medium-scale community farm.
Apart from plants, algae and fungi are also cultivated and fish is reared in the water. Together, they form a symbiotic relationship, feeding off each other while cleaning the water for other uses.
The Birumas project had its inception in 2015 when Universiti Malaysia Pahang undergraduate Soong Hui Ying was accepted for an internship by Kebun Kota when she was working on her thesis for her Masters in Chemical Engineering.
Kebun Kota is owned by Hana’s parents Datuk Dr Mukhlis Chua and Datin Kaniza Shafie.
Hana said the company conducted extensive reviews of published data and information on recycling of wastewater.
“We also observed the local farming community to find out what they needed.”
It was through such research and observation that Chua and her family came across the topic of the wasted potential of treated sewage effluents.
“A lot of the effluent is discharged into open sources of water (such as rivers and lakes). So, we decided to adopt a concept that had already been used successfully in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Central America to treat sewage water.”
She said the purpose was to recycle and filter sewerage water so that it could be used for irrigation and other non-potable purposes at a commercial level as well as to serve communities.
They named the project Birumas, short for “Biru Emas” or “Blue Gold” to denote the high value of water.
Hana made a presentation at the Asean Federation of Engineering conference in Bangkok in 2017, and managed to garner interest from International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
She believes that the Birumas concept could become significant in the supply of treated water in the future, given the growing risk of pollution.
“It would certainly change the way water is supplied for agriculture.”
Chua said with increased pollution, access to clean water in the future would become even more difficult and expensive, adding that Birumas could be a model for a less expensive way to ensure a regular supply of clean water.
At least 20 individuals who are experts in their own disciplines are working together on the Birumas project, which is being funded by the Environment and Water Ministry.
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