Rationing to start in Taiping area from today

IPOH: Water rationing starts in Taiping and surrounding areas today. This is despite the “slightly improved” water level at the Headwood water treatment plant.

The water rationing is expected to be enforced for about two weeks.

“The Perak Water Board (LAP) still needs to ensure that water supply to the people would not be disrupted,” Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir told reporters after presenting cheques to three Tamil schools at the State Secretariat building here yesterday.

He said the output of water at the Headwood plant had improved from 26 million litres to 31 million litres per day.

“The water level at the treatment plant is no longer at critical level but the water rationing exercise will still be carried out,” he said, adding that the water rationing was expected to be enforced until April 16.

There is no rationing in other parts of Perak.

Dr Zambry, however, noted that the water level at the Air Kuning dam had started to decrease due to the dry weather.

“The water level is dropping as water continues to evaporate, compounded by the lack of rainfall in the area.”

LAP general manager Datuk Mohd Yusof Mohd Isa clarified that the water level at the Air Kuning dam would be at a critical level if it reached 34m. The current level is 38.1m while the maximum level is 43m.

Dr Zambry said LAP was the best-managed water agency in the country with the lowest amount of non-revenue water (NRW), referring to the volume of lost water for various reasons.

“Water loss is not only from burst pipes but also because of theft,” he said.

“However, this is not an excuse and we will ensure the NRW will be minimised annually,” he added.