GEORGE TOWN – Penang is expected to impose water supply cuts for the next few days following a recurrence of polluted water from Kedah flowing into the water intake system at the Sg Dua water treatment plant near Butterworth.
It was learnt that although the temporary water cut will not be as severe as the incident in July, there is a need to impose cuts in major localities while engineers from the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) work around the clock to conduct maintenance work at the treatment plant.
State executive councillor Phee Boon Poh confirmed that he was informed of such a situation, stressing that the state is expected to issue a statement on it today.
Flash floods were reported in parts of Kedah in the past two days.
Although Penang has been largely spared from floods despite heavy downpours here, the river waters in Kedah were apparently filled with debris from hill development in areas such as Baling and Pendang.
From river arteries, it has since flowed to the Sg Muda catchment area – the main source of water supply for the northern region, including Penang.
In July, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow urged the federal government to mitigate the risks of another water supply mishap involving Sg Muda that would affect supply to the state.
Chow, who is PBAPP and PBA Holdings Bhd chairman, said more than 80% of the raw water that PBAPP abstracted daily came from Sg Muda.
As such, he had said then that any mishap involving Sg Muda would affect the water supply services of about 80% of households, commercial and industrial.
On July 6, floodwaters caused the turbidity of raw water from Sg Muda to suddenly spike up to 3,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU).
The water turbidity was so high that it forced PBAPP to shut down the Sg Dua plant back then.
Currently, there are 1.78 million consumers living in Penang. – The Vibes, November 23, 2022
