Water supply from Sg Muda sufficient for 2 months’ use by Penang

 PBAPP CEO K Pathmanathan says dam levels in Penang remain under control.

Sungai Muda, which is shared with Kedah, remains the main source of raw water supply to Penang. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Water supply in Penang is expected to remain stable at least until May despite the current hot and dry weather if there is no further large-scale release of water from Sungai Muda, Kedah.

Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) CEO K Pathmanathan said the two main dams in Kedah, namely the Muda dam and the Beris dam, were currently showing a significant reduction in capacity since the beginning of this year following the release of water for agricultural irrigation purposes, Bernama reported.

“As of March 28, the capacity of the Muda dam is at a critical level of 7.19% while the Beris dam is at 58.06%. The Muda dam is no longer able to release additional water into Sungai Muda after experiencing a sharp decrease due to the release for the purpose of irrigating rice crops,” he said in a statement today.

He said based on the current rate of reduction, the remaining storage of the Beris dam, which is decreasing by 0.56% per day, is estimated to be able to last about 68 days before reaching the critical level of 20% around mid- or late June.

K Pathmanathan.

Pathmanathan said Sungai Muda, which is shared with Kedah, remains the main source of raw water supply to Penang.

On average, PBAPP abstracts about 1,000 million litres per day (MLD) of raw water from the river to be treated at the Sungai Dua water treatment plant (WTP).

He said the treated water was then supplied to about 465,000 consumers in Seberang Perai and the island.

Pathmanathan said PBAPP had activated the Sungai Muda Contingency Plan 2026 since the end of February. This involves abstracting the maximum raw water from Sungai Muda every day to support the optimal production of treated water at the Sungai Dua WTP.

“Following this, water will be released strategically from the Enlarged Mengkuang dam (EMD) in the event of a shortage of raw water supply from Sungai Muda, with the maximum release limited to 600 MLD.”

Pathmanathan said the ongoing implementation of the Penang Double Dam Defence Programme, by pumping about 407 MLD of treated water from the Sungai Dua WTP to the island, is to ensure that the Air Itam dam and Teluk Bahang dam do not dry up.

The contingency plan is expected to help Penang overcome water supply challenges throughout this year, but it is not a comprehensive solution because the maximum EMD discharge capacity is only 600 MLD, while the Sungai Dua WTP requires about 1,000 MLD of raw water to operate optimally.

On the status of dams in Penang, Pathmanathan said this is still under control with the Air Itam dam at 69.38%, the Teluk Bahang dam at 84.05% and the EMD at 91.24% as of March 28. - FMT