Friday January 11, 2013

Save water, says SPAN

PETALING JAYA: The National Water Service Commission (SPAN) wants consumers to conserve water as the reserve margin in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya is low.

SPAN said in a statement that talks were ongoing with the state government to expedite a few projects to increase the supply capacity in these areas.

Work on a by-pass pipe to allow water to flow from the Dusun Kubong reservoir to two suction tanks in the Ampang area have begun to address the Klang Valley water disruptions affecting 30,000 people.

The water disruption has been blamed on the reduced pumping rate at the Wangsa Maju pump house, which is operating at a restricted flow of 180 million litres per day (MLD) compared to the previous 210 MLD, to prevent pump failure.

“Syabas has proposed to lay a by-pass pipe which would allow water from the Dusun Kubong reservoir to flow by gravity to AU3 Baru and AU3 Lama suction tanks, which receives its water supply from the Wangsa Maju pump house,” it said.

SPAN said it had approved the proposal and that work had begun on Wednesday and was expected to be completed within five days.

In a related development, the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer) said that the construction of the Langat 2 water treatment plant could not be prevented due to the high demand for treated water.

“This is purely an engineering issue. Based on official statistics and studies carried out, Langat 2 project must be implemented and carried out transparently,” Awer president S. Piarapakaran said in a statement.

It added that without any mitigation projects, there could be a water crisis as early as 2014, in the worst case scenario.

However, an increase of annual demand of 3.5% and 5.0% could lead to a water crisis in 2016 or 2014, respectively.

In Subang Jaya, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said he had given a one-and-a-half-week deadline to all parties to resolve the water supply crisis faced by Ampang and other residents following the breakdown at the Wangsa Maju pump house.

“Based on our analysis, the non-functioning of more than one pump and poor maintenance has affected the delivery of water to consumers,” he said.

News

Friday January 11, 2013

Save water, says SPAN