Water woes for 2.2mil residents from March 2
Nigel AwPublished: Feb 28, 2014 3:41 AM | Updated: Mar 1, 2014 1:34 AM
Another 2.2 million people in the Klang Valley will be hit by water rationing from March 2 as dam water levels continue to drop.
"This will affect 260 areas in six districts namely Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor.
Another 2.2 million people in the Klang Valley will be hit by water rationing from March 2 as dam water levels continue to drop.
"This will affect 260 areas in six districts namely Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor.
“It involves 358,342 accounts or 431,617 households, which is close to 2.2 million people in the Klang Valley," said Syabas executive director (operations division) Yusof Saroji at the National Water Services Commission (Span) in Putrajaya this morning.
Syabas today unveiled the plan for the second water rationing in a joint press conference with Span and the Selangor government.
The latest rationing follows the Selangor government's instruction to reduce raw water supply from Sungai Selangor and Klang Gates dams as their levels have fallen to lower than or close to half of its reservoir.
This second rationing, like the first one, will see residents in the affected areas divided into two zones where they will receive water for two days followed by another two days without water in rotation.
The first rationing commenced yesterday in Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang, involving 60,000 households, forced by the high level of ammonia in Sungai Langat from the dry weather.
Yusof said the latest exercise will involve some 270 Syabas staff and conceded that it was short of hands and will seek assistance from the state government.
He said Syabas’ assets to handle the rationing include 66 water tankers, 750 static tanks and 122 filling stations.
He stressed that water tankers will only be deployed to zones which are scheduled to receive water but somehow do not through the pipe.
Zone not scheduled to have water will not receive any assistance whatsoever and must store their own water stored when it is delivered, he added.
'More will be affected soon'
Span chairperson Ismail Kasim told the press conference that this second rationing will see raw water supply from the Sungai Selangor dam shrink by 200 million litres per day and 30 million litres per day for the Klang Gates dam.
The move will affect six water treatment plants, namely Sungai Selangor 1, 2, 3, Rasa, Bukit Nanas and Wangsa Maju.
He said the reduction of 200 million litres per day is only a start from the 500 million litres per day the Selangor government is asking to reduce in stages.
"Syabas will present a new scheduled water distribution plan when the Selangor government decides to further reduce the water released from the Sungai Selangor dam up to 500 million litres per day.
"Any change to the plan will affect more people and announcement will be made in the future," he said.
Based on the plan, for days when there is water, supply will begin at 4pm and discontinued about 41 hours later, at 9am.
On no water days, the supply will stop at 9am and resume some 55 hours later at 4pm, though the exact time may vary depending on the proximity to water treatment plants.
However, Ismail (left) said critical areas will not be affected by the rationing, namely the KL city centre, Putrajaya and Selangor administrative centres, Port Klang, KL International Airport and Subang Airport, government and private hospitals and free trade zones.
He added tha the People's Volunteer Corps will also be roped in to assist if necessary.
Selangor's Economic Planning Unit (Upen) deputy director Nor Azmie Diron represented the state government at the press conference.
Phase one of the second water rationing schedule which will be rolled out on March 2 can be viewed here.
Same woes in other states
Ismail said Johor, too, was facing similar problems and the district of Kluang has begun rationing water since Feb 18 where they receive water for two days and one day without.
However, he said due to the worsening situation, the rationing will be extended to two days starting March 1.
He added that Span was also observing the "worrying" water level at the Gemencheh dam in Negri Sembilan which supplies water to Tampin and Rembau.
"There is a possibility of water rationing for Tampin and Rembau, too, if the situation becomes critical," he said.
"This will affect 260 areas in six districts namely Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor.
“It involves 358,342 accounts or 431,617 households, which is close to 2.2 million people in the Klang Valley," said Syabas executive director (operations division) Yusof Saroji at the National Water Services Commission (Span) in Putrajaya this morning.
Syabas today unveiled the plan for the second water rationing in a joint press conference with Span and the Selangor government.The latest rationing follows the Selangor government's instruction to reduce raw water supply from Sungai Selangor and Klang Gates dams as their levels have fallen to lower than or close to half of its reservoir.
This second rationing, like the first one, will see residents in the affected areas divided into two zones where they will receive water for two days followed by another two days without water in rotation.
The first rationing commenced yesterday in Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang, involving 60,000 households, forced by the high level of ammonia in Sungai Langat from the dry weather.
Yusof said the latest exercise will involve some 270 Syabas staff and conceded that it was short of hands and will seek assistance from the state government.
He said Syabas’ assets to handle the rationing include 66 water tankers, 750 static tanks and 122 filling stations.He stressed that water tankers will only be deployed to zones which are scheduled to receive water but somehow do not through the pipe.
Zone not scheduled to have water will not receive any assistance whatsoever and must store their own water stored when it is delivered, he added.
'More will be affected soon'
Span chairperson Ismail Kasim told the press conference that this second rationing will see raw water supply from the Sungai Selangor dam shrink by 200 million litres per day and 30 million litres per day for the Klang Gates dam.
The move will affect six water treatment plants, namely Sungai Selangor 1, 2, 3, Rasa, Bukit Nanas and Wangsa Maju.
He said the reduction of 200 million litres per day is only a start from the 500 million litres per day the Selangor government is asking to reduce in stages. "Syabas will present a new scheduled water distribution plan when the Selangor government decides to further reduce the water released from the Sungai Selangor dam up to 500 million litres per day.
"Any change to the plan will affect more people and announcement will be made in the future," he said.
Based on the plan, for days when there is water, supply will begin at 4pm and discontinued about 41 hours later, at 9am.
On no water days, the supply will stop at 9am and resume some 55 hours later at 4pm, though the exact time may vary depending on the proximity to water treatment plants.
However, Ismail (left) said critical areas will not be affected by the rationing, namely the KL city centre, Putrajaya and Selangor administrative centres, Port Klang, KL International Airport and Subang Airport, government and private hospitals and free trade zones.He added tha the People's Volunteer Corps will also be roped in to assist if necessary.
Selangor's Economic Planning Unit (Upen) deputy director Nor Azmie Diron represented the state government at the press conference.
Phase one of the second water rationing schedule which will be rolled out on March 2 can be viewed here.
Same woes in other states
Ismail said Johor, too, was facing similar problems and the district of Kluang has begun rationing water since Feb 18 where they receive water for two days and one day without.
However, he said due to the worsening situation, the rationing will be extended to two days starting March 1.
He added that Span was also observing the "worrying" water level at the Gemencheh dam in Negri Sembilan which supplies water to Tampin and Rembau.
"There is a possibility of water rationing for Tampin and Rembau, too, if the situation becomes critical," he said.
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