Second water cut in a month: 300k households hit by river pollution

 

Several areas in the Klang Valley will be hit by yet another water cut due to river pollution, only a month after a similar incident left 1.2 million households without water.

In the latest incident, 309,605 households in 273 areas within the districts of Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang are affected.

This came after Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd was forced to shut down the Sungai Semenyih and Bukit Tampoi water treatment plants as pollution was detected in the raw water supply that they draw from the nearby river.

"Air Selangor reported the incident to the Selangor Water Management Board (Luas) and is actively identifying the source of the pollution along Sungai Semenyih and nearby tributaries.

"Air Selangor has activated the Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to mobilise help to affected users following the incident," it said in a statement.

Air Selangor said at present, it still cannot give an estimate on when the water supply will be restored.

The previous incident took place on Sept 3 where a machinery maintenance factory was suspected of dumping pollutants into Sungai Gong, causing a tributary of Sungai Sembah that feeds into Sungai Selangor. 

This caused four water treatment plants, namely Sungai Selangor Phase, 1, 2 and 3, as well as Rantau Panjang to shut down.

Water supply was only fully restored after six days, on Sept 9.

The latest water disruption due to pollution is the seventh one affecting Klang Valley since last year.

Apart from the latest and Sept 3 incident, at least five other incidents have occurred since 2019. 

In March, three water treatment plants were shut down due to a suspected oil spill around Bestari Jaya in Selangor. 

In December last year, illegal waste dumping in Sungai Semenyih led to the closure of the Sungai Semenyih and Bukit Tampoi water treatment plants. 

The Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant was also affected by separate incidents in September and June last year. 

In July last year, more than one million households were affected when the Sungai Selangor 1, 2 and 3 water treatment plants had to be shut down, also due to river pollution. 

The affected areas are:

 - Mkini