GEORGE TOWN – Most of the 1.8 million consumers in Penang will have normal water supply restored by noon tomorrow after muddy floods in neighbouring Kedah forced the Sg Dua water treatment plant to be halted today.
Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa, CEO of Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP), said this in detailing the state agency’s immediate measures to protect drinking water quality in the wake of the tragedy in Baling.
“We were forced to close the plant to not compromise the drinking water quality as set by the Health Ministry,” he said in a statement today.
He confirmed that some areas will continue to experience low pressure for the time being.
Jaseni said that the plant, which provides for some 80% of the households in Penang, was shut due to the existence of excessive levels of mud and particles as measured by the plant’s Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU).
NTU is a measurement of the level of particles and mud in the water. The level was measured at 3,000 NTUs, whereas the normal level is 1,000.
The floods in Baling, Kedah had forced the state’s water intake and treatment plant in Sg Dua to be shut down around 8am today.
This is the first time that such an incident has happened, as the severity of climate change and land clearing activities in Kedah have begun to impact Penang in unanticipated ways.
The shutdown had caused the water supply pressure to be affected in several areas.
Meanwhile, PBAPP will monitor the situation closely as its priority is to provide a sustainable supply of quality drinking water in Penang.
Environmentalists, when contacted, urged both Kedah and Penang to formulate remedial measures to firstly contain the outbreak of muddy floods, and to protect the security and safety of the water treatment plants for both states. – The Vibes, July 6, 2022
