PUCHONG: It may take three months to identify the reason behind the collapse of an embankment at the construction site of a water intake structure for the Sungai Rasau Water Supply Scheme (Stage 1) project in Taman Mas here.
Selangor infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Izham Hashim said stabilisation works need to be done at the site before investigations can be safely conducted.“After the stabilisation works, we will pump the water out of the site before assessing the cause behind the collapse,” he said during a visit to the site yesterday.
Izham also said no abnormalities have been identified at the site yet.
“I was informed that there is no strong flow of water in the pond, which is normally the reason behind this kind of incident.
“There is also no landfilling happening at the site that could possibly affect the embankment’s stability.
“The construction works also did not breach any safety conditions. It is quite hard to identify the cause at this stage,” he said, adding that the state will collaborate with Air Selangor to bring in geotechnical experts for the investigation.“All the possibilities will be studied. The project will be halted until the investigation is completed,” he said.
Izham also gave the assurance that the incident will not cause any hazards for the people living nearby as it is only a “one-off” incident that only affected the construction site.
At 2pm last Saturday, water from the surrounding lake breached the embankment that serves as a coffer dam to keep the construction site dry so that work can take place to build the water intake structure, which is capable of drawing up to 1,400 million litres per day (MLD) of raw water from the ex-mining ponds at Taman Putra Permai.According to Google Earth Pro’s terrain measurement tools, the pond adjacent to the work site is part of the Puchong lake system connected to the Klang River through a 3km-long canal.
The lake system measures around 425ha, about the size of 340 football fields, comprising three main lake bodies and five smaller lakes connected via channels.Gamuda Bhd is the main contractor for this water supply scheme owned by Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor).Stage 1 of the Sungai Rasau project is expected to yield 700MLD of treated water daily by the end of next year from a water treatment plant (WTP) that is part of the package.
Located at Tanjung Dua Belas, this WTP will be connected with the Puchong intake point through a pair of pipes. The development of the Sungai Rasau water supply scheme is critical as Sungai Selangor is currently the only source of raw water supply for the Klang Valley region.
With the implementation of the Sungai Rasau Scheme, the treated water reserve margin is expected to increase to more than 20% to provide a better buffer for consumers.
