SHAH ALAM: The Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant, which stopped operations for about seven hours on Monday, due to pollution in the river, is expected to cause disruptions for five to seven days in several districts.

The affected districts are Petaling, Sepang, Klang, Kuala Langat, and the most serious, Hulu Langat with an estimated 125,000 consumers covering Bandar Baru Bangi, Kajang and Sungai Chuah.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui said the ministry was taking the matter very seriously and working hard to handle it.

Apart from providing water through tanker lorries, he also suggested that Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and National Water Services Commission (SPAN) find other alternatives, such as a scheduled supply system.

"Maybe come up with a time table for particular areas. For example supply Bandar Baru Bangi on alternate days. In this way there'll be some water to the houses directly and they don't have to wait for the tankers.

"I'm telling Syabas to look into this matter with SPAN and see how it can be implemented as soon as possible," he said after a briefing by Syabas at the Sungai Semenyih Treatment Plant here.

In its statement yesterday, Syabas said the disruption was expected to affect the Petaling district involving 118,000 accounts, Hulu Langat (125,000), Sepang (65,000), Klang (19,000) and Kuala Langat (22,000).

Asked to comment on the situation in relation to the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant issue, Chin said in his view certain areas were operating with a very narrow margin of water reserve.

"One percent. So if we operate on such a small margin, when there's the slightest problem here or there or faulty machinery, we're going to face problems as there's insufficient reserves.

"In a way the Langat 2 project will give us a healthy reserve margin when it's completed," he said. - Bernama

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