JOHOR BARU: The turbidity level of raw water at the Johor River Basin has seen a significant surge following the burst of the sixth washing pond at an inland mining site in Kota Tinggi, says state executive councillor Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh.
The Johor works, transport, infrastructure and communications committee chairman said monitoring by the Johor Water Regulatory Body, the Irrigation and Drainage Department, the Environment Department, the National Water Services Commission and Ranhill SAJ found that water turbidity had spiked to 37,400 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), compared with the normal level of around 400 NTU.
"The incident was caused by land-based sand mining activities by a local company when its sixth sand washing pond burst due to soil movement.
“As an immediate measure, the water release from the Linggiu Dam has been increased to dilute the contamination in the Johor River.
“Alternative water supplies are also being delivered to affected areas via tanker lorries to meet consumer needs while recovery works are being carried out,” he said in a statement.
The incident had affected operations at several water treatment plants, including Linggiu, Semangar, Sungai Johor and PUB (Singapore), potentially disrupting water supply in parts of Kota Tinggi, Johor Baru, Pontian and Kulai.
“The affected areas include parts of Senai, Skudai, Seelong, Felda Linggiu, Petri Jaya and Lima Kedai," he said.
Mohamad Fazli advised residents in the affected areas to store sufficient water and use it prudently until the supply returns to normal.
He said the state government viewed the incident seriously and would take firm action against any party found responsible for contaminating the state’s water sources.
"All latest updates will be announced periodically through the official channels of the Johor state government, Bakaj, and Ranhill SAJ," he said.
Earlier, fishermen around the area had reportedly been affected after the river turned murky.
