Over 300,000 Households In Selangor Facing Water Cuts Due To Odour Pollution
"...efforts are taken to hasten the recovery process."
By Liew Ashley — 22 Dec 2019, 06:03 PM
Over 300,000 households in Selangor have been experiencing water cuts since yesterday, 21 December
According to Malay Mail, this was due to an odour pollution that was detected in the Semenyih river, forcing Air Selangor to fully shut down the Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant.
As a result, unscheduled water supply disruptions occurred, affecting 328,957 customer accounts in 348 areas in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat, and Sepang.
A follow-up report by Bernama stated that the closure of the water treatment plant was due to illegal waste disposal
The report explained that the closure was not due to sewage treatment operations conducted at Indah Water Consortium Sdn Bhd (IWK), but was because of illegal waste disposal near the plant instead.
"From the investigation, it was found that it was not sewage odour at the inlet of the plant and due to the odour, the team had to temporarily stop the effluent discharge to enable immediate cleanup operation," IWK said in a statement, as quoted by Bernama.
Further inspections carried out by IWK, Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS), and the National Water Service Commission (SPAN) revealed that there was illegal waste disposal with solvent odours at the sewers around the area.
This incident is similar to one that occurred in September when the Sungai Semenyih treatment plant had to be shut down for 10 hours
The closure was due to a similar reason: illegal dumping of waste by irresponsible quarters into the sewerage system.
This also caused Air Selangor to halt operations, resulting in an unscheduled water supply disruption.
Prior to the current case, there have been four major water cuts due to river pollution in Selangor, as reported by The Star.
As of today, 22 December, the Sungai Semenyih plant is still inoperative, more than 24 hours after it had to be shut down
According to Malay Mail, the plant will remain non-operational until further notice as restoration work is still ongoing.
Air Selangor corporate communications chief Abdul Halem Mat Som confirmed that IWK and LUAS were actively carrying out cleaning work.
"Manhole cleaning work near the sewage treatment plant to suck out the contaminating effluent is ongoing. Activated carbon damping has also been implemented to reduce the impact of odour pollution in the Semenyih River," Abdul Halem said in a statement, as quoted by Malay Mail.
Meanwhile, the communications chief said that the Bukit Tampoi plant had also been affected
The plant has been shut down since yesterday evening, resulting in water cuts for an additional 366 areas and 336,930 households.
With Air Selangor expecting the recover period to take some time, emergency water supply assistance has been provided
Tankers are being deployed to supply water to critical premises first, including hospitals.
Meanwhile, others facing water disruptions can get water at 11 one-stop service centres and public taps round-the-clock. The locations of these service centres are listed on Air Selangor's Facebook page.
"Air Selangor will take some time to rectify the problem, but efforts are taken to hasten the recovery process," Halem said, as quoted by The Star.
