Izham (left) leading a team of officers from various water-related agencies to check on the progress of Package D in Jenderam Hilir.
ONE of four packages under Selangor’s Water Resources Assurance Scheme (SJAM), which will ensure uninterrupted water supply in the event of a river pollution, is now 54% completed and expected to be ready by October.
Called Package D, it is located at Jenderam Hilir in Dengkil and cost RM85mil.
State infrastructure and public amenities, agriculture modernisation and agro-based industry committee chairman Izham Hashim said the package involved work at the water intake of Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant (WTP), including building two pump stations, installing six inclined submersible pumps at each pump station and installing a network of pipes measuring 2,400mm in diameter.
“The Sungai Semenyih WTP supplies about 700 million litres per day (MLD).
“It processes about 12% of the water supply in Selangor, with the treated water directed to users in Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and Puchong.
“Package D will expand its existing processing capacity and storage system of the ponds that connect to the Sungai Semenyih WTP,” he said.
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In the event of a river pollution, Izham said water from those ponds could be used as an alternative source for up to five days while clean-up was in progress.
“When the polluted site is cleaned and water quality is good again, the water supply will revert to the original river source,” he added.
Elaborating on the SJAM, Izham said if there was an interruption to the water supply (linked to a water treatment plant) because of pollution, the system would allow the closure of the water intake from the river to divert polluted water to sea.
“Water from a series of interconnected ponds will be used as an alternative source instead,” he said during a site visit to check on the progress of Package D.
Also present during the site visit were representatives of agencies such as Air Selangor and Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS).
“The SJAM project is the first of its kind in Malaysia,” said Izham.
It was previously reported that the Sungai Semenyih WTP shut down twice in December last year due to odour pollution.
One incident, which involved a lorry spilling some 1,000 litres of perfume essence on a highway, resulted in the temporary closure of Sungai Semenyih WTP and Bukit Tampoi WTP.
A total of 472 areas in five regions experienced unscheduled water supply disruption due to the incident.
On issues associated with the progress of Package D, such as approval permit for works in areas under Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s purview and approval for pipe jacking works, Izham said those could be resolved soon to allow the project to be completed on time.
“Phase II of the scheme will look into all aspects of water management, including drought and flood, as all water-related matters have to be looked at holistically,” he said.
He added that details on Phase II would be announced in due time and the four packages under Phase I would be completed by October this year.
