Malaysia: Recent rainfall does not mean water rationing will end, says Syabas

christine cheah The Star 6 Apr 14;

PETALING JAYA: Recent rainfall over some parts in Klang Valley does not mean that water rationing may end any time soon, according to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas).

Syabas’ corporate communications assistant general manager Priscilla Alfred said the water distribution company had yet to receive any instruction from the state government or the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) to cease rationing.

“Having just a week of rain doesn’t mean that water levels in the dams have increased to a level the state government and SPAN deem satisfactory,” Alfred said.

Rain in various parts of the city does not mean that it also rained in water catchment areas, which for Sungai Selangor dam, would be the area upstream of Kuala Kubu Baru.,

As of yesterday, the Sungai Selangor dam, which caters to 60% of Klang Valley’s demand, has only seen a minimal storage increase from 36.67% to 37.09%, according to the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) website. Other dams such as Klang Gates, Langat and Sungai Tinggi stood at 52.91%, 49.35% and 60.97% respectively.

Alfred said that phase four of water rationing would continue until April 30.

To address the lack of rain in water catchment areas, cloud seeding will be carried out in these areas.

“Cloud-seeding operations will be based on data on the movement of the clouds – in terms of how fast they move and in which direction,” said the department’s central forecasting office director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah.

USJ4 resident Jason Ong, who is preparing for phase four which will affect his area today, has bought two 151-litre water containers, costing RM80 each, to cater for the needs of his household.

“We are all prepared and will use water sparingly. The water in containers are just for use when we really need it,” said Ong, a businessman.