Government approves four projects to improve water services in Penang

THE Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) said it has received federal approval for four additional infrastructure projects which will improve the quality of water services for the northern region.

Its chief executive officer Datuk K Pathmanathan said the federal government is working with Penang to upgrade the Lahar Yooi pump house so it can boost intake up to 440 million litres daily (MLD) from neighbouring Sungai Muda.

This pump house represents Phase 2C of the Mengkuang Dam Expansion Project (MDEP). 

It will be built to pump an additional 440 MLD of raw water from Sungai Muda to refill the 86.4 billion litre dam more efficiently during the wet seasons.  

The Lahar Yooi Pump House supports PBAPP’s plan to convert the dam from a “strategic drought reserve” to a “daily dam” (with the completion of the new 114 MLD Mengkuang Dam Water Treatment Plant in 2025).  

The second is to install a dual-purpose pipeline to the Sungai Dua Canal.

This pipeline is needed to support the operations of the proposed move to upgrade the Lahar Yooi Pump House.  

It will channel an additional 440 MLD of raw water to the dam during the wet seasons and also deliver an additional 440 MLD of water from the dam into the Sungai Dua Canal, for use in the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant during a crisis.

In effect, the maximum drawdown of the EMD will be boosted from 600 MLD to 1,040 MLD when this pipeline is commissioned. 

The remaining two projects are to build two off - river storage schemes (ORSS) for the Sungai Kerian and Sungai Muda arteries.

These 2 ORSS projects are essentially “mini-dam” projects proposed for development at or near the riverbanks of Sungai Muda in Seberang Perai Utara (SPU) and Sungai Kerian in Seberang Perai Selatan (SPS).

Excess raw water from a river may be stored in an ORSS. 

The “spare water” may be drawn down to support 24 - 48 hours of water supply services during droughts, mishaps or other emergency scenarios. Subsequently, the ORSS may be refilled with excess raw water from the river.

These four Federal projects are additional water supply projects that should be implemented in tandem with Penang’s RM1.184 billion Water Contingency Plan 2030 (WCP 2030) and the RM4.5 billion “Perak-Penang Water Project," said Pathmanathan. - November 8, 2024.