By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
SHAH ALAM, Sept 4 — Swift action by the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) and Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) in managing the contamination traced in Selangor’s raw water source have resolved the pollution issue in less than 12 hours, says Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari.
The Menteri Besar said the Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant (WTP) has resumed operations and water supply will be restored in stages starting today.
He said Luas and Air Selangor had acted immediately after the River Monitoring System (RMS) detected an odour pollution in Sungai Buah, yesterday.
“First, the stop-work order at the WTP was implemented to avoid the pollution flow into the treated water resources.
“Then, 14 bags of activated carbon were placed at two locations near the premises to control the pollution at Sungai Semenyih.
“Some 227 million litre of water a day was released from the Semenyih Dam in efforts to dilute and flush the contamination in the river. This would enable the WTP to resume its operations immediately,” he said on Facebook, today.
Yesterday, Luas had received a report from Air Selangor of the odour pollution up to 2 TON (Threshold Odour Number) detected at the RMS Kg Sungai Buah at 4pm.
A total of 463 areas in five Air Selangor regions experienced unscheduled water supply disruptions following the shut down of the Sungai Semenyih LRA yesterday.
The five regions are namely Petaling (172 areas), Hulu Langat (54), Sepang (194), Putrajaya (23) and Kuala Langat (20).
Meanwhile, Amirudin said 94 water tanker lorries have been mobilised to the affected areas and public water pipes will be provided at strategic locations.
“The state government will not compromise on this issue and strict actions will be taken against the perpetrators under Section 79(1) (a) of the LUAS Enactment (Amendment) 2020, which carries a maximum penalty of three years jail and a minimum fine of RM200,000 (or maximum of RM1 million), if convicted,” he added.
