Jul 18, 2024

Better Performance in Removing Impurities from Tap Water than Boiling Water Verified across Malaysia, the Country's First

Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Corporation (https://www.panasonic.com/global/home.html) ("Panasonic") today announced that its Living Appliances and Solutions Company has conducted tests in Malaysia to verify tap water purification performance using the company's alkaline ionizers (TK-AS700 and TK-AS500) and faucet water purifier (TK-CJ300) equipped with a high-performance filter cartridge ("filter cartridge") in joint research with Dr. Minhaz Farid Ahmed at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Dr. Mazlin Mokhtar, former professor at UKM, and confirmed their performance in removing four types of impurities and outperforming boiling tap water. Although the performance and quality of the filter cartridge is guaranteed by the JIS standard for household water purifiers, this was the first time that the tap water in Malaysia was used in verification tests*¹.

For tap water in Malaysia, while the quality of water immediately after treatment at water treatment facilities is guaranteed based on the drinking water quality standards set by the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia, there is no official statement about the quality of water supplied to each household. In Malaysia, it is common to boil tap water to ensure safe drinking water. However, there is a concern that boiling water does not remove some substances, such as heavy metals, that dissolve into the tap water from the water pipes.

Verification tests were conducted in six regions across Malaysia to compare the water purification performance and water quality between the tap water boiled for five minutes and that filtered through the filter cartridge by evaluating the four types of substances contained in tap water: Free residual chlorine ; chloroform, which is considered a probable carcinogen; iron and manganese dissolved into tap water from the water pipes. The tests revealed that filtration through the filter cartridge showed better performance in removing the impurities than boiling the tap water at six sites. As a result, it is expected that the use of Panasonic's filter cartridge will make drinking tap water safer and easier in Malaysia.

With the ability to stay close to people's lives cultivated over 100 years, Panasonic aims to create inspiring products and services that will benefit the future of people and the Earth. We will continue our efforts to provide tap water that people can drink with greater peace of mind in Malaysia and around the world.

■Key points of verification testing

filter cartridge

It was confirmed that the filter cartridge can remove the following four types of impurities contained in tap water in Malaysia:

Chlorine: While this substance is used to disinfect water, it can spoil the taste and smell, and its use in large amounts is not recommended
Chloroform: A carcinogen, which is produced by the reaction of chlorine for disinfection with organic substances in tap water
Iron: Heavy metals from mines or dissolved into water from the water pipes
Manganese: Heavy metals from mines or dissolved into water from the water pipes

■Verified data

[Verification method]

Water quality was investigated at 48 sites throughout Malaysia.
Object of verification: Tap water
Verifying organization: Chemsain Konsultant Sdn Bhd

Six sites were selected from each area based on the following three criteria:

Relatively high water pollution
At least one major city
Coverage of the entire territory of Malaysia

At the six sites selected above, the water quality of boiled tap water and tap water filtered through the filter cartridge was compared by investigating the performance in removing four types of substances.
Object of verification: Water from the taps, boiled tap water, and tap water filtered through the filter cartridge
Drinking water filtration systems used in the verification tests: TK-AS700, TK-AS500, and TK-CJ300
Verifying organization: Chemsain Konsultant Sdn Bhd

[Results of verification]

This figure shows the comparison results of the concentrations of four impurities in tap water, boiled water, and filtered water from each device (TK-AS700, TK-AS500, TK-CJ300) in two areas where water pollution was particularly high in this verification.

Kelantan area
As the main source of water in Kelantan is groundwater, it is known as an area with a low water quality rating in Malaysia.

Boiled water showed removal performance for chloroform, but was unable to remove the other three types. In addition, the manganese concentration was higher than in tap water.
TK-AS700, TK-AS500, and TK-CJ300 showed high removal performance for all four types.

Perlis area
Perlis had relatively high values in all evaluation items in this test.

Boiled water showed removal performance for chloroform, but was unable to remove the other three types. TK-AS700, TK-AS500, and TK-CJ300 showed high removal performance for all four types.

[Conclusions]

It was verified that at the six regions across Malaysia, filtering tap water through the company's filter cartridge showed better performance in removing the four types of impurities compared to boiling the tap water. In addition, the filter cartridge can prevent high concentrations of heavy metals caused by water evaporation during boiling.

[Comment from Dr. Minhaz at UKM*²]

Three types of Panasonic's drinking water filtration systems (TK-AS500, TK-AS700, TK-CJ300) showed better performance, based on one sampling at six states in Malaysia, in removing free chlorine, iron, manganese, and chloroform from tap water than boiling the tap water at the household level. Among the three types of Panasonic's drinking water filtration systems, TK-AS700 showed the best performance, followed by TK-AS500 and TK-CJ300. These parameters were chosen for analysis because of their presence in water due to both natural and man-made reasons, their high concentrations in tap water samples from some states in Malaysia during the first round of sampling in thirteen states and three Federal Territories of Malaysia, and discussions with the Panasonic Team in Japan to evaluate the performance of Panasonic's water filtration systems.
However, the concentrations of these parameters in tap water were within the maximum limit set by the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia in the national drinking water quality standard.
This research aligns with WST2040 (Malaysian Water Sector Transformation 2040), and the results will contribute to ensuring a safe drinking water supply at the household level in Malaysia.
We hope that Panasonic will continue to work effectively to help Malaysia safeguard drinking water quality for all residents.

[Profile of Dr. Minhaz]

Dr. Minhaz Farid Ahmed is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Dr. Minhaz is involved in several United Nations-sponsored research projects, including AP-FAST, Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme, as well as the Malaysian National Water Sector Transformation Research Program (WST2040) by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM). He is also serving as Head of special module development for government officials.

[Profile of Professor Dr. Mazlin]

Professor Dr. Mazlin Mokhtar is Deputy Head for Research at UN SDSN-Asia, Sunway University. Prior to this, he served at UKM for 37 years and held key positions, including Director of LESTARI and DVC for Research. He has served on various committees, including Chair of the Environment Committee of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, the Environmental Quality Act's Appeal Board, and Chairman of Malaysia's Environmental Quality Council. He is the recipient of the Langkawi Environment Award 2018, the Best 2010 FRGS project on Chemicals Management, and the Professor Emeritus award of UKM 2022.

[Specifications of verified models]

*1 This press release contains research information and results regarding specific topics and environments. The research results are related to specific evaluations and no speculative statements are made about unverified matters.
*2 Panasonic requested Dr. Minhaz to provide his comments, which we have edited and published.
*3 Nineteen types of harmful substances as per JIS S3201
Free residual chlorine (calcium hypochlorite), turbidity, chloroform, total trihalomethanes, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, bromoform, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, CAT (pesticide), 2-MIB (mold odor), soluble lead, 1,2-DCE, benzene, geosmin (mold odor), phenols, PFOS and PFOA, iron (particulate form), and aluminum (neutral)

Inquiries:

Stella Lim
Department Head
Marketing Communication Department
Panasonic Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
Lot 10, Jalan 13/2, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Email: stella.lim@my.panasonic.com
Office: +603-7809 7605

Mazlee Mokhtar
Manager, Corporate Communication
Marketing Communication Department
Panasonic Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
Lot 10, Jalan 13/2, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Email: mazlee.mokhtar@my.panasonic.com
Office: +603-7809 7877

About Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Corporation offers products and services for a variety of living environments, ranging from homes to stores to offices and cities. There are five businesses at the core of Panasonic Corporation: Living Appliances and Solutions Company, Heating & Ventilation A/C Company, Cold Chain Solutions Company, Electric Works Company and China and Northeast Asia Company. The operating company reported consolidated net sales of 3,483.3 billion yen for the year ended March 31, 2023. Panasonic Corporation is committed to fulfilling the mission of Life Tech & Ideas: For the wellbeing of people, society and the planet, and embraces the vision of becoming the best partner of your life with human-centric technology and innovation. Learn more about Panasonic: https://www.panasonic.com/global/about/

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