The Ingenieur Vol 59 July-Sept 2014 The Ingenieur Vo. 59, July-Sept 2014 | Page 78

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“Overcoming the Natural Rate of Rise
(NRR) requires quick operational
decisions and actions. Even when the
targeted NRW level has been achieved,
efforts have to continue to sustain the
achieved level and ensure that it is not
overcome by the NRR, causing the NRW
level to rise again.

NRW levels naturally rise over time due
to continuous water losses. This phenomenon
is called the ‘Natural Rate of Rise’ (NRR). The
rate of NRR varies between 3% and 5% per year
for different states in Malaysia. The amount of
effort in an NRW reduction exercise should be
substantial enough to at least overcome the NRR,
otherwise, the NRW level will keep rising, though
at a lower rate. Overcoming the NRR requires
quick operational decisions and actions. Even
when the targeted NRW level has been achieved,
efforts have to continue to sustain the achieved
level and ensure that it is not overcome by the
NRR, causing the NRW level to rise again. This
continuous effort has be instilled as a culture
in any water supply operator to ensure that the
operations are carried out with NRW importance
in mind.
CONCLUSION
NRW management requires a great amount of
technical know-how. The team must be able to

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understand and manage the water supply system
to ensure that the NRW o