Rush for bottled water as treatment plant shuts down

Wiped out: Customers greeted by empty shelves at a supermarket in Penang as they scramble to stock up on bottled water.

GEORGE TOWN: After a four-hour shutdown of the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP) caused by turbidity in the Sungai Muda river due to the floods in Baling, the state is turning to the Mengkuang Dam for its urgent water supply.

Raw water stored in the dam has been released to reduce the turbidity of the raw water in the Sungai Dua canal after the flash floods in Kedah, said Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa.