Balqis Nasir and Ili Liyana Mokhtar New Straits Times 24 Feb 14;
CLOUD SEEDING: Meteorological Dept will inform National Security Council when time is right
KUALA LUMPUR : INTERMITTENT rainfall over the Klang Valley is predicted to continue until next week.
Meteorological Department deputy director-general (strategy and technical) Dr Rosaidi Che Abas said the brief rainfall over certain parts of the Klang Valley on Saturday night did little to alleviate the hot and dry weather.
He said the weather was still not conducive for the cloud seeding exercise to be carried out.
"The weather is quite unpredictable, but based on what we see, there will be no suitable clouds that could be used for the cloud seeding exercise until Wednesday.
"That is why we are monitoring the situation closely to find suitable large clouds that could allow a 80 per cent success rate for the seeding exercise."
Rosaidi said the clouds which were most suitable for seeding were cumulus clouds, alternately known as the towering cumulus clouds.
These clouds, which are known as fair weather clouds, resemble puffy cotton balls or cauliflowers.
He said seeding exercises could not be conducted on clouds that naturally produced rainfall.
Dr Rosaidi said there were two types of cloud seeding -- wet and dry seeding.
In wet seeding, about 150kg of salt is mixed with 1,000 litres of water, and the containers of salt solution are carried aboard a specific aircraft. Four containers could be carried at one time.
When the plane reaches an altitude of 1,200m to 2,100m, the solution is sprayed onto the clouds.
In dry seeding, hygroscopic flares are fixed onto racks on an aircraft's wings.
When the aircraft enters the base of the clouds, the flares are lit, causing salt particles to disperse into the clouds, thus creating a chemical reaction.
Rainfall is expected within five to ten minutes of cloud-seeding, Dr Rosaidi said.
The success rate for cloud seeding in Malaysia since 1974, stood between 57 and 65 per cent where in most cases, it would rain after the exercise was carried out.
National Security Council secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab said cloud seeding depended on the availability of suitable clouds.
"The Meteorological Department will inform us when there are clouds that can sustain seeding operations. It is now closely monitoring the situation.
"Once the conditions are favourable, we will go ahead with the exercise as planned."
The dry spell in the country has led to water levels dipping closer to critical levels in reservoirs nationwide and the authorities have been urged to carry out cloud seeding to induce rainfall.
DRY SPELL: Supplies water
New Straits Times 24 Feb 14;
DRY TAPS: Military water tankers provide relief to thousands of residents
IT has been two weeks that the 30,000 residents of Taman Impian Ehsan, here, have been enduring dry taps.
With no fast solution to their woes in sight, hundreds of them took to the streets yesterday hoping to get some reprieve.
As they were sharing their plight with the media, three Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) water tankers were making their way to the neighbourhood to provide them with the much needed relief.
The tankers, each carrying 10,000 litres of water will be making trips there everyday until the problem is resolved.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the ATM tankers were deployed to assist Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) meet the water demand.
Syabas had since Saturday set up 12 static tanks there, each with a capacity of 1,200 litres.
Resident Paul Wong, 38, who has been residing in that area for ten years said the locals there were disappointed with the authorities which they said were not committed in addressing the problem.
"We have complained many times to so many parties but none of them were bothered.
Terpili Salim, 37, who was seen doing her laundry at one of the static tanks said the water supplied through the static tanks was not enough in meeting demand of the people in the area.
Syabas corporate communications and public affairs department assistant general manager Priscilla Alfred said the company had been sending many water tankers to the residents for their daily use since the beginning of the crisis.
"The current problem is that the supply cannot meet the demand as there are too many affected residents and the problem has stretched for so many days," she said.
Hishammuddin said ATM was giving priority to the people.
Serdang parliament rukun tertangga officer cooredinating Serdang Major (B) Abdul Rahim Mohd Amin said that Taman Impian Ehsan had been experiencing water shortage for more than 14 days, while Bandar Tun Hussein Onn was still facing water rationing.
"Yesterday, Syabas sent 12 water tanks with the capacity of 1,200 litres here, but was not enough as this neighbourhood comprises of 20 residential areas with more than 30,000 residents," Abdul Rahim said. The closure of the water treatment plants in Cheras Batu 11 and Bukit Tampoi due to the ammonia pollution in Sungai Langat was the main cause for the dry taps.
Rahim said he had earlier sought help from the National Security Council (NSC) but was told by the NSC that it could only step in if the state government declared a state of emergency.
In George Town, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said there had been no shortage in water supply and the current capacity of the three dams in the state would last until the end of March.
He said the water level at the Air Itam, Teluk Bahang and Mengkuang dams stood at 74, 90 and 50 per cent respectively and was adequate.
Lim said the supply would only be considered critical if water at the dams dropped to 40 per cent.
