GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) is appealing to the 593,255 registered domestic water users in the state to reduce water consumption by 10 per cent until the rainy season in September to avoid a water crisis.
PBAPP chief executive officer K. Pathmanathan said a 10 per cent reduction in domestic consumption would help PBAPP save 50 million litres per day (LPD).
"PBAPP data shows that a 10 per cent reduction in domestic consumption in Penang in 2024 will translate into water savings of 50 million LPD.
"So, if every domestic water user in Penang can reduce water consumption by 10 per cent, we will be in a better position to ensure sufficient water supply until the rains arrive in September," he said in a statement on Saturday (July 27).
Meanwhile, Pathmanathan said the low rainfall since last January had caused a decrease in the effective capacity of the two main dams besides affecting the production of treated water which in turn had an impact on water supply operations in Penang.
He said yesterday, Air Itam Dam recorded a low effective capacity of 41.1 per cent and the Teluk Bahang Dam at 31.9 per cent while lower treated water production was also recorded at the Waterfall Water Treatment Plant due to a lack of raw water from the Waterfall Water Catchment Area (KTA), in addition to lower production of treated water at the Sungai Pinang Water Treatment Plant (WTP) due to the lack of raw water from KTA Titi Kerawang.
"The lack of rainfall has also caused the water level reading to be below 2.0 metres (m) at the Lahar Tiang in Penang for 16 days in a row since July 11, effectively causing the Muda Dam, which was built to release water into the Muda River, to drop to 9.9 per cent on July 25 (Thursday).
"However, fortunately, the effective capacity of the Beris Dam in Kedah is at 60.2 per cent and Kedah is releasing water into Sungai Muda while the PBAPP also releases the reserve of the Expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD) every day to increase the intake of raw water from Sungai Muda," he said.
According to Pathmanathan, PBAPP needs to extract sufficient raw water from Sungai Muda and release water from EMD to maintain optimal water production operations at Sungai Dua WTP which is Penang's most important WTP.
He said the PBAPP is activating a crisis management plan to minimise the impact of the issue of low rainfall and ensure that Penang has enough water until the rainy season in September. - Bernama
