GEORGE TOWN: Penangites have been urged to join efforts to prevent the state dam levels from going down by reducing domestic water consumption by 20% every day.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said based on the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) water consumption data for 2022, a 20% reduction in domestic consumption will result in a saving of 106.8 million litres per day (MLD) of water.
"This 106.8 MLD will go a long way towards ensuring water supply sufficiency in Penang until expected heavy rainfall in September 2023," he said in a statement on Sunday (May 21).
He said the urgent appeal was made because currently the effective capacity of the Air Itam dam stood at 41.5% on Friday (May 19) and the Malaysian Meteorological Department has published data online indicating that there may be a hot and dry El Nino phenomenon from now to August 2023.
He said in 2022, PBAPP data showed Penangites used 307 litres/capita/day (LCD) as compared to the national average of 244 LCD in 2020 and Singapore's statistic of 158 LCD in 2021.
He said since the dam levels are low, there is "plenty of room" for every Penangite to cut down on water consumption now.
"In 2022,domestic water consumption accounted for about 61.6% of the total consumption of water in the state.
"As such reducing domestic consumption will generate a bigger impact on water conservation than reducing consumption by the government and commercial sectors in the state," he said.
He said PBAPP identified two reasons behind the low dam levels in the state, the first is the low rainfall in the dam water catchment areas since Jan 1 this year.
Despite having tried cloud seeding operations since May 2023, the dam level has continued to drop said Chow.
He said the second reason was the high consumption where the state has set a new record for water consumption at 868 MLD.
"For the first three months of this year, it is even higher with an average consumption figure at 876 MLD," he said.
He said the state government has instructed PBAPP to defend the reserves of the Air Itam and Teluk Bahang dams at all costs this year by implementing contingency water supply engineering measures.
He said if the dam level hit preset low points, PBAPP will duly inform the public through public announcement in the mass, electronic and social media about the tough measures ahead.
The tougher measure, however, can be avoided or delayed if the state domestic water usage can be reduced by 20%.
On Sunday (May 21) the Ayer Itam Dam recorded 44% capacity while the Mengkuang Dam is at 88.2%.
The Teluk Bahang Dam recorded 47%.
