SYNOPSIS

Water is a gift of God. Water exists in three states: solid, liquid and gaseous. The paths taken by rain droplets include: (i) it evaporates before reaching the ground; (ii) intercepted by vegetation – evaporated, consumed and flow down to the ground; (iii) reaches the ground – flow as surface runoff or infiltrated into the ground and subsequently percolated to groundwater bodies or aquifers; and (iv) become part of surface water bodies – rivers, lakes, wetlands and oceans. In Malaysia, visible water resources account for more than 98 per cent of raw water for public water supply services. In countries with high annual rainfall, groundwater is an out-of-sight,out-of-mind water resource and is assumed to be viable only for low rainfall countries. There are many benefits of groundwater development and they include shorter transmission pipelines and inundation free water resources development. The former utilisesthe pipeline function of aquifers whereby water is transferred from recharge areas to abstraction points and the latter utilises the massive storage capacity function of aquifers. It is estimated that more than 95 per cent of the readily available global freshwater resources is in the ground. There are many methods of groundwater abstractions and the suitable method depends on the desired quantity and quality of water as well as geological conditions. River bank filtration (RBF) is gaining acceptance to enhance water supply services by improving water quality, permitting water abstraction during river low flows and overcoming water intake damages by floating logs. RBF utilises the “filter plant” function of aquifers.RBF involves the use of groundwater abstraction methods. The suitable method of abstraction and the success of RBF depend on the conditions of local geology and rivers. The success of sustainable groundwater development depends on detailed study that is undertaken by a team of multi-discipline competent professionals.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. Dr. Azuhan is a professional who cut across engineering and earth sciences. He is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (1986) and a Licentiate of the Institute of Geology Malaysia (1991). He has a first degree in Civil Engineering majoring in hydraulics and hydrology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, a master degree in Hydrogeology from the School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK and doctoral degree in Civil Engineering majoring in water management from University of Birmingham, UK. He has more than 30 years of working experience in the water sector involving visible and invisible water resources as well as water services. He had worked in the public and private sectors, namely DID, EPU, MOF, PAAB, SPAN, Sime Darby and Prima Utilities. He authored the papers that led to the restructuring of water services in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan in 2005 during his tenure in EPU, PMD. He had led a business unit in Sime Darby and the CEO of its subsidiary. Currently, he is on secondment from DID to ErincoSdn. Bhd. as Head of Water Resources. In 1992, he was awarded the station of Certified Groundwater Professional (CGWP) by the Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers of the National Groundwater Association, USA and became the first CGWP in South-East Asia. He has authored more than 100 publications and has personal beliefs that:
•    Malaysia is not facing a water crisis but facing water and land mismanagement; and
•    The solution to our so call “lack of water” is under our feet.