Bridge Data Centres (BDC) and Computility Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd had on Monday signed agreements with Johor Special Water (JSW), to produce reclaimed water for their data centers in Johor making the state the first in the country to integrate wastewater recycling into data centre operations, according to reports. W.Media had on 6 August reported on Bridge Data Centres’ signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with JSW to repurpose treated effluent as reclaimed water for operational use.
Since 9 June, BDC has been producing reclaimed water at its Ulu Tiram plant while Computility is expected to begin operations at its facility in Iskandar Puteri by December.
The same event also witnessed DayOne Data Centres Sdn Bhd signing an agreement with JSW for the supply of raw water from the Tebrau River to its data center in Kempas Tech Park scheduled for operations in November.
At the Alternative Water Usage Recognition Ceremony for the Data Centre Industry in Johor Bahru, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said to date, more than 50 applications representing RM164.45bil in total investments for the construction of data centres had been received as of the second quarter of 2025. Out of those, 42 had been approved, he added.
Onn Hafiz also said JSW and other utilities as well as the state government are currently reviewing seven new applications involving water usage of up to 76 million litres per day. As of June 30, JSW had received requests from data centre operators for a total of 136 million litres per day of alternative water supply.
The chief minister emphasized that sustainable management of energy and water resources must go hand-in-hand with the growth of data centers in the state. To ensure this, the state has set up the Johor Data Centre Development Coordination Committee to oversee data center developments through a review process that takes into account renewable energy sources and alternative water solutions.
JSW, a subsidiary of Permodalan Darul Ta’zim Sdn Bhd, has partnered with national sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) to supply alternative water sources for data centre cooling systems to reduce pressure on the state’s potable water supply. Options include raw water, reclaimed (recycled) water, and desalinated water.
Meanwhile, Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency, quoting Bridge Data Centres president Eric Fan, reported that four million litres per day of treated effluent from Indah Water Konsortium’s JB-Pelangi Sewage Treatment Plant will be supplied to the BDC water reclamation plant with JSW overseeing the delivery of the treated effluent and obtaining of approvals.
Fan was quoted to have said its water reclamation plant will treat the effluent, transported through a full pipeline system, to high grade pure water.
“I believe nobody else has done this large-size water reclamation plant for the cooling process of data centres,” Fan told Bernama after a site visit to the Water Reclamation Plant in Desa Cemerlang, Ulu Tiram.
“What you see is only the plants, but there’s also pipeline construction that runs directly to the Pelangi Indah Sewage Treatment Plant. This project is already running and is now in the final stage of testing and commissioning,” he said, as quoted by Bernama.
