JOHOR BAHRU: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has become the first university in Malaysia to have its own rock aquifer tubewell as an alternative source of clean water supply.
UTM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail said the 158-metre deep well will produce water with an acidic PH value of 7.8 and is capable of producing one million litres of water a day, thus meeting the needs of campus residents.
He said that the project initiated by the board of directors and top management of UTM which uses the membrane technology system can reduce the dependence on existing resources and save utility costs for water use on campus.
“This is the first rock aquifer water well in Malaysia found in UTM, with a capacity of one million litres per day and it can benefit about 7,000 users.
“UTM hopes the project can be further developed because it can save expenses and generate income, including by bottling this water,” he said after the handover and inauguration ceremony of the UTM Rock Aquifer Tubewell Project at the university here, today.
He said the project was also set in motion through an initiative to develop underground water resources through research by UTM experts, which has now been successfully realised with the building of a rock aquifer tubewell, following the discovery of the water source in 2021.
Ahmad Fauzi said the rock aquifer tubewell is located in the UTM recreational forest which covers an area of 3.5 square kilometres and is rich in various species of flora and fauna as well as high-value tropical forest trees, which were planted through a collaboration between UTM and the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) in 2015.–Bernama