3 days at Unit Kawalan Mutu Air Minum (K.M.A.M)

Yes. I've been finish at K.M.A.M by today. =) K.M.A.M is a unit under Jabatan Kesihatan. Here we monitor the drinking water quality that will be consume by public as drinking and domestic purpose.

K.M.A.M office

In Sandakan area, there is 4 water treatment plant - Hilltop, Segaliud, Sibuga and Beaufort (Beufort does not supply water to town area). These 3 days, I've been visiting 2 water treatment plant, Hilltop water treatment plant and Segaliut water treatment plant. Hilltop water treatment plant that operate by TIMATCH Sdn. Bhd. They use conventional water treatment technology to purify water. Sibuga water treatment plant has the best water source in Sabah. But unfortunately I don't have the chance to visit. But it is using the same system as Hiltop water treatment plant as they are operate by same company. =)

Hilltop Water Treatment Plant

They have 2 type of water source, that is surface water (water that is expose to environment like river, lake, dam, sea and etc. At Sandakan, they use rivers as surface water source), and underground water. To extract underground water, they made a bore hole to extract it. Usually they only select underground water source that can be productive for 50 to 100 years. And the life span of the bore hole depends on many factors, such as the way they extract and so on. Surface water does not mix with underground water because of the soil that contains the underground water is usually impermeable. That means, underground water is one of the NON-RENEWABLE SOURCE... So hereby I urge that, Don't Waste Water! They are like minerals, gold and silver, one day, they will also deplete...

Back to the water treatment system, this is a mimic diagram that explains how it works.

First, the water is pump to the water treatment plant. Depends on the water source, if the water source is underground water, it will undergoes aeration, to remove the unwanted dirt, soil and rotten smell in the water. If it is surface water, it does not need aeration as it is always expose to the environment thus they usually smells better. But after all, it depends on the water quality. =D

Aeration plant (The cylinder building) and sediment tank

Then the water is mixed with alumn (acidic, promotes coagulation of colliform -  dirt, feces, microbes, etc. ), and lime (alkaline, controls water pH - adjust to pH 7). The usage of chemicals is depend on the condition of the water. If the water is acidic, they will put more lime. If the water is alkaline, they will put more alumn, reduce lime. Sometimes lime is not used. But alumn is compulsory because without it, the colliform does not coagulate.

Adding alumn and lime

Mixing Chamber

After that the water pass through mixing chamber and pass through sedimentation tank. The sediment will settle at the bottom of the tank and some colliform will float (underground water contains lipid compound that has lower density than water, that's why they will float. Somehow they are the relatives of the crude oil).

Sediment Tank

The clear water at the middle will then be extract, and undergoes filtration. In filter house, the water is filtered with sand.

Finally, the water is chlorinated (adding chloride gas into water to kill germs), store, and distribute to consumer.

The water is now safe and clean to consume. =)

And I believe now people have something to ask, so I have raised my doubt to the engineer there, Mr. Midin.

Q: People usually buys the water filter that are costly, and the water filter company always claim that their water can be drink directly. Does that statement reliable?

A: Filter only filters away coagulated substance, dirt, and small particles. But they does not kill germs. There is no water filter dares to claim their filter can kills 100% germs. Even if your container is dirty, the water it contains also have germs. It all depends on the consumer's sanitation. After all, the safest way to prepare drinking water is to boil the water before drink.

Q: Since you have such complete system and routine monitoring, why sometimes we as a consumer will get brownish or yellowish water supply from the pipe?

A: Yes we have a good system to purify water. But after the water is distribute to the consumer, it does not related with the water treatment plant anymore. There are many factors that will made water dirty. Maybe the pipe was rusted or leaking, or there has problem in the storage tanks. The quality of water pipes will also effect the water turbidity.

Q: What type of expertise you need to run a water treatment plant?

A: For making bore hole, we need geologist. For pump house and system monitoring, we need mechanical engineers. For water analysis, we need chemical engineer. I myself are mechanical engineer, but after 20 years in this field, I can do everything a water plant need with my knowledge and experience. =)

So here is how we take water sample and test them.

For physical and chemical test, we just take the water directly from pipe.

Turbidity test with Turbidity meter

pH test with pH meter

Chlorine Residue Test - Adding reagent to water sample

Chlorine residue meter

For biological microbe test, we sanitize the outlet using spirit.

Wipe the outlet with spirit

Heat the outlet to kill germs

Take water sample

Add reagent and close tightly.

Not only water sample from water plant, K.M.A.M also monitors quality of water that arrives to the public.

Taking water sample from a store

And from the readings that we get to the test, we found that the turbidity of water sample at the store is higher than the water sample at water treatment plant. This proves Mr. Midin's statement about the quality of distribution pipe or water storage tank will change the water quality. =)

The next day, we went to Segaliud water treatment plant. They are using a different water treatment system, that is Dissolve Air Floatation system (DAF).

In this system, the coagulant are mix with air with a turbo and the coagulant floats above the water surface. At the end, the clean water under the coagulants will extract, chlorinate, store and distribute.

Aeration Tank

Adding alumn and lime

The turbo mix water, chemical, and air together to make coagulant float

The turbo

Clarifier - Water sets here for 5 hour before filters

Filtration tank - Sand bed as filtration layers

Q&A Session with Engineer at Segaliud water treatment plant

Q: I am living at mile 7 and as I know, public there receives water source 100% from Segaliud water treatment plant. And since the water dam operates, we had receive salty water from the pipes. Why this can be happen and do you have any way to solve it?

A: Segaliud water plant is situated near to the shore, and Betotam dam receive water source from Kinabatangan and Segaliud river. Segaliud river is a downstream river, and people here always use the river to travel. When they pass through the dam gate, they have to open the gate to travel. This have made sea water comes in and contaminate the fresh water, thus make it salty. We have request the public not to use the river but the issue has not been solved yet. Anyway, the concentration of salt in water is still under the parameter limit, that is 100 +- mg/liter, and the maximum level is 200 mg/liter. It is still safe to consume.

Q: I notice that the water inside laboratory have been left open and flows all the time. Why it has to be so? Isn't it a waste to let water flows like that?

A: We have to take water sample and do analysis of water every hour to monitor the water quality. If the water pipe are turn off, the water will store inside the pipes thus the reading is not accurate. Therefore, we need to let the water flow to make sure we are taking readings from the same source but different timing. =)

We also take sample from the water source of the water treatment plant to analyse. So, we go to Betotam dam to take water sample.

Betotam Dam

Taking water sample

Same process as yesterday, and they take the sample back, added with other reagent and in different bottle, label, pack, and send to Jabatan Kimia Sabah for futher analysis.

Packed and labeled samples

Added with ice and document inside

Packing and send with courier service

Here comes the end of the day, and my attachment at K.M.A.M also finish.

Up Next - Vector Control. Stay tune for more. ;)