The Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) and Air Selangor took quick action on Monday (Oct 9) to prevent prolonged water supply disruptions in the state.
State Public Health and Environment Committee chairman Jamaliah Jamaluddin said, in a statement Tuesday (Oct 10), that Luas received information from Air Selangor about a diesel-like odour measuring 3 TON (Threshold Odour Number) at the Rantau Panjang Water Treatment Plant (WTP) inlet at 11.15pm on Monday, despite static monitoring by Luas at the nearby Sungai Sembah and Sungai Selangor reading 0 TON 15 minutes earlier, at 11pm on Monday.
Jamaliah said immediate action was taken including placing oil booms at the Rantau Panjang WTP and releasing 590mil litre water per day from the nearby water reserves into Sungai Selangor by midnight to increase the dilution factor.
“Samples were collected every 30 minutes at the Rantau Panjang WTP inlet for monitoring,” she said.
She also said that Luas investigated several areas on Monday night, including, among others, a sand mining site, development activities nearby and the Sungai Sembah bridge.
“However, samples collected from the locations recorded 0 TON and no oil traces found.
“It was likely that the oil discharge into Sungai Selangor was minimal and temporary.
“Samples have been sent for chemical analysis.
“The Rantau Panjang WTP resumed operations at 2.30am Tuesday (Oct 10), while Sungai Selangor WTP 1, 2 and 3 resumed operations by 4am,” she said.
She added that further investigations to identify the source continued on Tuesday and that the state would not compromise with any party involved in water pollution crime.
"Action would be taken in line with Section 79 of the Luas (Amendment) Enactment 2020,” she added.
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