Selangor to start water rationing tomorrow

SHAH ALAM: Residents in Selangor who have been experiencing water disruptions for weeks can expect water to flow from their taps every two days from tomorrow.

The state government has adopted a scheduled water rationing exercise to address the dry spell and the affected plants that were shut down after ammonia content was found in the Langat catchment area.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the exercise was a solution to those who have suffering from water disruptions since Feb 7.

Those affected from the exercise are households that received supply from the Bukit Tampoi, Batu 11 Cheras, Sungai Rasa, Sungai Selangor 1,2 and 3 water treatment plants.

While the Bukit Tampoi and Batu 11 in Cheras treatment plants had stopped intake of raw water from the Langat catchment area, the other four plants, which received its source from the Sungai Selangor dam will reduce intake of raw water in stages.

Khalid said this was due to the critical level at the Sungai Selangor dam.

It is learnt that the Bukit Tampoi and Batu 11 treatment plants have limited amount of treated water and they would supply water during the rationing period.

The water treatment plant in Batu 11 supplies water to the Hulu Langat area, while the Bukit Tampoi plant supplies the Kuala Langat area.

"This move is better than completely cutting off water supply which some consumers are already facing," Khalid said.

He said Syabas tankers and static tankers would also be sent to the affected areas during the rationing exercise.

He added that the rationing exercise would continue indefinitely.

"The rainy season is not until mid March but the state (government) is hoping for rain to come sooner," he said, adding that the scheduled water rationing exercise would be discontinued if the rainy season came earlier.

Exco in charge of environment, Elizabeth Wong said the level of ammonia content at the Langat catchment area was 3 parts per million (ppm) as of Saturday.

The permitted level of ammonia content is 1.5 ppm.