By Amirahwani Rahimi
SHAH ALAM, Aug 5 — The improving water quality in Sungai Klang is set to fulfil the state government’s aspiration to make it a new water supply source for residents by next year.
Selangor Water Management Authority director Hasrolnizam Shaari said it is also necessary to meet the high demand of Klang Valley’s nine million residents.
“Sungai Klang is the main river in the Klang Valley and many activities take place here. Therefore, it would be a waste if we do not utilise the water source from the river.
“Additionally, our treated water consumers number around nine million people, so we need a substantial water source,” he said during the Hai Selangor programme today.
Hasrolnizam added that the water treatment process from the river will be carried out at the Sungai Rasau Water Treatment Plant, in line with the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) development project.
Threats to Sungai Klang have also been successfully mitigated to ensure that treated water can be efficiently supplied to users.
On July 24, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said that rubbish collection in the river has decreased by 67 per cent, where only 5,600 metric tonnes of rubbish are being collected.
He said the SMG project successfully removed 88,000 metric tonnes of rubbish from Sungai Klang from 2019 to August last year using the Interceptor machine.
The 120-kilometre-long river has 13 main tributaries and is the fourth-largest river basin in Malaysia.
In 2022, state executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Izham Hashim anticipated that Sungai Klang would become a new water supply source for residents, especially around Klang, by 2025.
