Water supply back in 24 hours, says environment minister

Water supply to millions of consumers affected by the closure of the Phase 1, 2, and 3 water treatment plants in Sungai Selangor as well as the plant at Rantau Panjang due to the pollution of raw water is expected to be restored in 24 hours.

Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the incident was due to odour pollution which caused the four plants to be closed early this morning.

However, he said the situation had shown improvement as of 1.30pm.

To overcome the problem of odour pollution, Tuan Ibrahim said the Selangor Water Management Authority had released 285 million litres per day (MLD) from Horas 600 and pumped 336 MLD of water from alternative ponds to dilute the water in Sungai Selangor.

“We are expecting the four plants to resume operation in another one or two hours, thereby restoring water supply to about five million consumers in 24 hours,” he said at a press conference after visiting the phase 2 water treatment plant in Sungai Selangor today.

Also present was Selangor Environment, Green Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Hee Loy Sian.

Tuan Ibrahim said the Rantau Panjang plant had ceased operations at about 12.30am following level-one threshold odour number (TON) pollution at the surface of the plant intake point while plants 1, 2 and 3 halted operations after odour pollution at level-three TON was detected at the surface of their intake points.

“Initial investigation by the authorities found solvent as the source of the odour pollution this morning.

“The smell of solvent was similar to the incident in early September which is still under investigation,” he said, adding that the ministry had identified several industrial areas as the source of the pollution.

Tuan Ibrahim said the ministry did not rule out the dumping of solvent by illegal factories operating around Selangor.

“If the factories hold licences issued by the ministry, they would be frequently inspected for compliance with the licensing conditions and for licence renewal,” he said.

This morning, 1,196,457 Air Selangor accounts involving 1,292 areas in Klang Valley experienced yet another disruption in water supply after four Sungai Selangor plants halted operations following pollution at the raw water source.