IWK, JSW In Strategic Partnership To Develop Reclaimed Water To Meet Johor Data Centre Industry Demand

JOHOR BAHRU, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- National sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd and Johor Special Water (JSW) Sdn Bhd have formed a strategic partnership to develop reclaimed water to meet the increasing demand for water supply in the data centre industry in Johor.

IWK chief executive officer (CEO) M. Narendran said IWK and JSW today signed three agreements to supply the alternative water source to two data centres in the state.

He said this includes the supply of treated effluent from IWK through an integrated distribution system to the Reclaimed Water Plant at Bridge Data Centres (BDC) and Computility Technology (Malaysia), while JSW will supply an alternative water source to Dayone Data Centres Malaysia II Sdn Bhd (Dayone).

“Through these agreements, IWK will supply 12 million litres per day of treated effluent obtained from the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to the Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) built by BDC and Computility," he said when receiving a visit from the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, and the Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi to the IWK Johor Bahru-Pelangi STP here today.

Earlier, Fadillah and Onn Hafiz observed the treated effluent from IWK being channelled to the BDC WRP and Computility.

Meanwhile, Narendran said that through this collaboration, IWK will also supply approximately four million litres per day of treated effluent from the Johor Bahru-Pelangi STP to the BDC WRP in Ulu Tiram.

JSW will oversee the treated effluent discharge and coordinate with local authorities to obtain all necessary approvals. This treated effluent will be reused as high-quality water for use in BDC cooling operations," he said.

According to him, the supply of reclaimed water from treated effluent by IWK as a non-potable solution can meet the high demand from industries such as data centres.

He said IWK produces over 7,371 million litres of treated sewage daily from STPs nationwide, with 1,067 million litres of treated effluent produced in Johor.

"With the increasing market demand for sustainable water solutions in Johor, the potential to expand reclaimed water infrastructure is very significant, thus supporting the country's sustainability aspirations and reducing pressure on clean water resources," he said.

Meanwhile, JSW CEO Abdul Rashid Ismail said a data centre is a facility that uses a high amount of water, especially for cooling needs, thus explaining that reclaimed water offers a scalable and climate-sensitive alternative compared to conventional sources.

He said the quality and quantity of treated effluent were also proven to be safe and effective for use in data centre operations.

“We receive many enquiries regarding recycled water supply from data centres and other industrial areas, including the Nusajaya Tech Park, Sedenak Tech Park, Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park, Pasir Gudang and Kempas. This clearly demonstrates Johor's strong position as a rapidly developing digital hub," he said.

According to him, IWK and JSW have also been collaborating since October 2021 to reuse treated effluent from the STP as reclaimed water for non-potable industrial use.

He added that the collaboration proves that sharing between agencies can unlock new value from existing infrastructure, thus driving sustainable development.

--BERNAMA