By Selangor Journal Team
SHAH ALAM, Oct 13 — Swift action by the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) to address high turbidity levels in Sungai Selangor yesterday night prevented the possible closure of four major water treatment plants (WTPs) in the state.
State executive councillor for health and environment Jamaliah Jamaluddin said Luas’ monitoring team detected unusually murky waters following a heavy downpour yesterday, most notably near the water intake section of the Rantau Panjang WTP.
Subsequent inspections at various nearby sites, including Sungai Guntong, revealed the turbidity level had surged at around 11.30pm.
This could have severely disrupted operations of key WTPs in the state, namely Rantau Panjang, as well as Sungai Selangor Phase One, Phase Two, and Phase Three.
“Luas reacted swiftly, flushing the turbid waters out by opening the barrage gates. This ensured the high turbidity passed the WTP water intake,” she said in a statement today.
From midnight onwards, Sungai Selangor’s turbidity level near the Rantau Panjang WTP water intake displayed a declining pattern and later normalised.
“Currently, Sungai Selangor’s condition is stable, and no operational hazards to the affected WTPs have been reported,” Jamaliah said.
Additionally, Luas is meticulously monitoring several project and activity sites along Sungai Selangor located within 17 to 19 kilometre of the Rantau Panjang WTP water intake, which may have potentially been the source of the high turbidity.
“Checks by Luas found the turbid waters can eventually flow into streams like Sungai Guntong, Sungai Serendah, Sungai Garing, and Sungai Sembah, before entering the main river Sungai Selangor,’’ she said.
To enhance oversight, Luas is liaising with the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council to better supervise the approval of development projects in these identified areas, ensuring environmental safeguards are in place.
This comes following an odour pollution in Sungai Selangor earlier this week which led to the temporary closure of the four aforementioned WTPs, causing water disruptions in several districts in the Klang Valley.
Water supply has since been fully restored to the affected areas.
