[UPDATED] S’gor water treatment plants shut down due to ‘spilt perfume’

KUALA LUMPUR – The odour pollution which led to the temporary shutdown of the Sg Semenyih and Bukit Tampoi water treatment plants originated from a liquid spill due to an accident involving a lorry carrying perfume essence.

The accident occurred on the northbound side of the Elite Highway near Bandar Serenia in Negri Sembilan, just outside of the Selangor border.

“The spot of the accident was 6.4km away from the Sg Semenyih water treatment plant and 18km away from the one in Bukit Tampoi,” said Selangor tourism, environment, green technology and Orang Asli affairs committee chairman Hee Loy Sian in a statement.

He said that the smell of the spilt liquid could still be detected as of 10.30am today as the odour reading in the river was at a scale of one threshold odour number (TON).

He added that both treatment plants can only resume operations when the odour reading falls down to zero TON.

The Kajang assemblyman was commenting on the decision made by the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) to suspend operations of both plants at 6am today.

The closure affected a total of 472 areas in five districts, namely Petaling (172 areas), Hulu Langat (54 areas), Sepang (196 areas), Putrajaya (23 areas), and Kuala Langat (27 areas).

Hee said that the authorities are working in tandem with the private contractor hired by PLUS Highway to prevent the spill from spreading further by installing barriers around the accident location.

However, the Selangor exco added, traces of the liquid were found in drains that connected with Sg Limau Manis, which runs across Selangor and Negri Sembilan, before reaching Sg Semenyih.

“Luas has engaged a private contractor to clean the stream and absorb all materials contaminating the Sg Limau Manis water. These works are expected to last until 5pm,” he said. 

Hee also said that 360 million litres per day of treated water are also being released from the Semenyih Dam to help dilute the contaminated water in Sg Semenyih and reduce the spilt liquid essence there. – The Vibes, December 24, 2022