State of Sarawak visits Water Institute to uncover emerging technologies

The State of Sarawak, Malaysia is routing water from its remote regions into its cities. To support this initiative, a delegation of officials, headed by their Chief Minister, visited Ontario this past week to consult water experts on leading-edge practices and emerging technologies. On their roster of research powerhouse visits was the Water Institute, and following the Oct. 1 meeting, a solid base for future collaboration between the State and Institute researchers was forged.

The 27 delegates assembled at the University of Waterloo for a half-day water research showcase tailored to the unique challenges facing the State. Interest was shown, in particular to Water Institute expertise in water resource management and emerging technologies that can sustainably provide clean and potable water over the long term.

The following professors presented their innovations with the goal of sparking future dialogue and partnerships:

• Enhancing the robustness of water supply systems by Peter Huck
• Sustainable nanomaterials for water and wastewater treatment applications by Michael Tam
• DNA biosenors for metals detection by Juewen Liu
• Minimizing non-revenue water loss and asset management using smart sensors by Sriram Narasimham
• Trenchless technologies; buried infrastructure asset management by Mark Knight
• Failure and reliability analysis of water storage and distribution systems using artificial intelligence by Kumaraswamy Ponnambalam
• Water and wellbeing by Susan Elliott
• Water pricing by Roy Brouwer

In the coming year, collaborations will continue to be explored in water resources management research, education and capacity building between the Institute and Sarawak’s rural water supply department, Sarawak Energy and their academic institutions.

Opening remarks from the Chief Minister of Sarawak (centre).

Feridun Hamdullahpur, University of Waterloo president and vice-chancellor, explains how water is a strategic priority of the university.

Bernard Duncker, the University of Waterloo’s new associate vice-president interdisciplinary research, gives opening remarks.

The Water Institute’s executive director Roy Brouwer receives a memento from Sarawak.

Sarawak delegation with Water Institute representatives.

In the media

• Sarawak to model mega dam management after Canada, CM says — Malay Mail
• Sarawak to emulate Canada’s water management, governance — Borneo Post
• Sarawak to emulate how Canada manages its dams, water resources — Dayak Daily
• The Canadian way to better lake management — the Star Online
• Malaysian Delegates Learn Water Practices from Ontario — Water Canada
• Enhancing use of Sarawak’s water resources through dams — Letter by Philip Wong, director, Sarawak Institute for Public Affairs (Sipa) in MalaysiaKini