Water Supply System for a Rural Village in Malaysia

Abstract

The aim of this research was to design and build a water supply system for a village in rural Malaysia. Very often technologies previously developed for water supply are not known or specifically upgraded to suit a particular population (or village). This has resulted in 600 million humans still living in abject poverty. Companies can be called in to develop water supply systems but too often their profit motive will make the project inviably expensive. This project was accomplished with a very tight research grant, lots of trial and error and engineering knowledge. The village is located 103 kilometers from Kuching. The final system is a 3Ø, 4 HP pump placed on a floatable wooden barge near the river pushing water up 120m over an elevation of 9m to a Pump House located behind the Community Hall of the village. Another 3Ø, 1 HP pump is used to pump water from the 9000L holding tank to the 38 individual homes of the village. Upon achieving a supply of water, other aspects of developing the village using modern technology was worked upon. This will enable villagers to get out of the poverty trap and approach life with renewed confidence.