The Selangor menteri besar expects to lift water rationing for the state and Kuala Lumpur by next week if current efforts to pump fresh water from mining ponds continue to prove successful.
"We can declare the rationing discontinued next week if these conditions prevail," MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim told a press conference in Klang today.
He said as of today, eight pumps were drawing 400 million litres per day (MLD) of fresh water from alternative sources to help fill the drying Sungai Selangor dam, which supplies water to 60 percent of the Klang Valley.
He added the state is hoping to raise the volume of pumped water from 700MLD to 900MLD and once this threshold is met, the rationing will likely be lifted.
Mining pond water is safe
Khalid also rubbished claims that the use of fresh water from mining ponds is unsafe.
"Some of the water is cleaner than river water because the ponds are already very old, some have been there for 30 years," he said.
He added that the Health Department was also invited for feedback before the contingency plan was rolled out and they had no health concerns.
Furthermore, Khalid said this alternative source of fresh water will still go through the treatment process and even when as treated water it would again be tested for safety.
Asked whether the state government was slow in dealing with the water rationing , already in place for two months, Khalid denied this.
"We have done it (contingency plans) earlier... We have other contingency plans, it's just that we have not told you.
"If the situation worsens, we even have plans to go underground (for water) but now we think the current contingency plan is more than enough," he said.
On the ongoing take over of water assets from private concessionaires in the state, Khalid said it was still in the process and the deadline lies with the federal minister in charge.
"We can declare the rationing discontinued next week if these conditions prevail," MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim told a press conference in Klang today.He said as of today, eight pumps were drawing 400 million litres per day (MLD) of fresh water from alternative sources to help fill the drying Sungai Selangor dam, which supplies water to 60 percent of the Klang Valley.
He added the state is hoping to raise the volume of pumped water from 700MLD to 900MLD and once this threshold is met, the rationing will likely be lifted.
Mining pond water is safe
Khalid also rubbished claims that the use of fresh water from mining ponds is unsafe."Some of the water is cleaner than river water because the ponds are already very old, some have been there for 30 years," he said.
He added that the Health Department was also invited for feedback before the contingency plan was rolled out and they had no health concerns.
Furthermore, Khalid said this alternative source of fresh water will still go through the treatment process and even when as treated water it would again be tested for safety.
Asked whether the state government was slow in dealing with the water rationing , already in place for two months, Khalid denied this."We have done it (contingency plans) earlier... We have other contingency plans, it's just that we have not told you.
"If the situation worsens, we even have plans to go underground (for water) but now we think the current contingency plan is more than enough," he said.
On the ongoing take over of water assets from private concessionaires in the state, Khalid said it was still in the process and the deadline lies with the federal minister in charge.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.