Malaysia: Wettest town going dry and driest one rescues Seremban

The Star 1 Apr 14;

PETALING JAYA: Taiping, the wettest town in the country, is facing a water crisis. Jelebu, the driest district in the country, is now the main water supplier for Seremban. Things are turning topsy-turvy.

Several housing areas in Taiping and its surrounding areas are starting to experience disruptions as the water level there is not improving.

Resident SK Ng, who is in his 50s, said that despite an hour-long rainfall on Saturday afternoon, water was only trickling out of the taps.

“The residents here are getting anxious,” he added.

On Friday, Perak Public Utilities, Infrastructure, Energy and Water Committee chairman Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharuddin held an emergency press conference over the critical water level at the Headwood Taiping water treatment plant, notifying people that notices on the water rationing exercise would be put up in the affected areas.

He said the affected zones would get water supply for a period of two days at a time and the water rationing exercise was expected to affect about 28,000 residents.

Perak Water Board western regional manager Shapiei Mustapa said people should be prepared for water rationing between April 3 and April 16 if the situation continues to worsen.

He said only a week-long downpour could return the water level at the plant to normal from its current critical level.

In Negri Sembilan, several parts of the state could soon face a water shortage but things are fine in Seremban and its surrounding areas following the commissioning of the Ngoi-ngoi plant a week ago.

It can produce an additional 150 million litres of treated water a day.

“With the commissioning of this plant, we can reduce our dependence on the Sg Terip plant, which now supplies treated water to Seremban,” said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

He said Jelebu was now the main supplier of raw water for residents in Seremban.

“Jelebu is known to be a very dry place but the construction and commissioning of the Ngoi-ngoi dam is testimony that we can overcome obstacles through proper planning,” he said.

However, water levels at three of the four dams are even lower than before the wet spell began about two weeks ago with only the Kelinchi dam registering a slightly higher level.

Checks with Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan (SAINS) showed that water levels at the Sg Terip, Talang and Gemencheh dams have not improved compared with two weeks ago.

On March 6, the state government carried out water rationing in parts of Rembau, Gemencheh and Jempol when the water level at Sg Ulu Muar fell rapidly due to the prolonged dry spell.

However, supply was restored just over a week later.

More and more water being used
The Star 1 Apr 14;

PETALING JAYA: The current water shortage may be due to a dry spell but consumption habits are not helping to solve the problem.

Malaysians use a lot of water and the amount is increasing every year.

According to National Water Services Commission data, the average Malaysian used 201 litres of water per day in 2009, 209 in 2010, 210 in 2011 and 212 in 2012.

The figures are among the highest in the region, said Fomca deputy secretary-general Foon Weng Lian.

Singapore’s per capita consumption of water is only 151 litres per capita per day while the United Nations recommendation is 150 litres, said Foon.

Getting Malaysians to save water has not been easy.

In 2007, Fomca and the then Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water conducted the Domestic Water Consumption Study.

“At the end of the study in 2010, we asked respondents whether they were willing to conserve water for the next three years. Seventy-five per cent of them said they were not willing to do so,” Foon said.

The finding showed up the failure of ad hoc water conservation campaigns, he said, adding:

“The water conservation campaign must be ongoing because Malaysians really need to be constantly reminded.”

Some consumers affected by the rationing exercise in Selangor were collecting excess water each time their taps flowed as they were fearful of them running dry, said Foon.

M. Yoga and his family had been storing water in three 25-gallon buckets at their home in Bandar Utama.

The head of the household of eight (which includes his wife, four children, mother-in-law and maid) would prefer a one day on, one day off rationing system instead of the present two days on, two days off.

“We’re not at home during the day and although I’ve told the maid not to fill up all the buckets, she continues to do so because she fears the cut may extend from two days to three without any notice.

Lin Dahalan, her husband and three children are getting by with a 30-gallon bucket at their home in Puchong, but feel they are cutting it fine.

“The water goes off at sharp 10am but only comes back on to the third floor around 10pm on the third day.There’s always a possibility we could run out,” she said.

Foon said the current shortage must be seen by all as a wake-up call about the importance of water conservation and good management of water resources.

He said planners drawing up the country’s long-term water supply policy must take into account not just consumption habits but the effect of increasingly unpredictable weather.

Consumers still using as much water as when dams were full
The Star 1 Apr 14;

PETALING JAYA: Selangor’s dams are running dry, but its residents are still using nearly as much water as they were when the dams were full.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry secretary-general Datuk Loo Took Gee said people in Selangor were only using 7% less water despite the water rationing in the state.

As of yesterday morning, the Sungai Selangor dam in Kuala Kubu Baru recorded a 36.53% capacity. Its critical level is 30% – which will be reached in just two weeks if water levels consistently drop.

“Despite the water rationing, the regulator has found that the (amount of) water saved is a mere 7%. The demand has only dropped by (that much),” Loo said in an interview, citing National Water Services Commission figures.

It was reported that the demand for treated water in Selangor was 4,641 million litres a day.

This would mean that a mere 325 million litres are saved each day, which Loo said was not enough. Malaysia, she said, had low water tariffs and Selangor gave 20 cubic metres of water for free to its residents each month.

This did not motivate people to save water, and the ministry was mulling the possibility of a water surcharge to stretch the state’s resources, Loo said.

“It’s a possibility in light of the present dilemma that we have right now...If you go beyond a certain consumption, you must increase (charges),” she added.

According to the Malaysian Water Industry Guide 2013, Selangor residents are charged RM0.57 per 1,000 litres for the first 20,000 litres. This is bumped to RM0.72 for the first 30,000 litres and RM0.77 for the first 35,000 litres.

The state’s last tariff review was in 2006.

Loo said the Government might consider declaring a water emergency before dams reached critical levels.

“We’re not going to wait until the levels reach 30%,” Loo said, referring to the Sungai Selangor dam, the state’s largest.

“I hope that by the end of April there’ll be more rain coming. We have to prepare the necessary measures needed to be invoked, just in case,” she said, declining to say when either a surcharge or emergency might take effect.

She added that the ministry was considering taking water from the Labu and Ngoi-ngoi treatment plants in Negri Sembilan to supplement Selangor’s water needs during this time.

If the critical level is reached, a water emergency can be declared and the Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister is given discretionary powers to do whatever he wants to conserve water resources.

He would have the power to ban car-washing and garden-watering as well as take action against those violating the water emergency rule.

6.7 million Selangor residents to face water cuts from Friday
patrick lee The Star 1 Apr 14;

CYBERJAYA: More than 6.7 million Selangor residents will face water cuts, when the fourth phase of water rationing takes effect on April 4.

National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chairman Datuk Ismail Kassim said that the phase will affect nine districts here: Gombak, Petaling, Klang/Shah Alan, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Langat, Hulu Langat and Sepang.

“The fourth phase of water rationing will involve an additional 620,237 households making a grand total of 1,340,231 households or 6.7 million people,” he told reporters at SPAN’s headquarters here on Tuesday.

The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), he said, will however not be affected by the water rationing exercise.

Kelantan looks to groundwater to keep the taps running
The Star 1 Apr 14;

KOTA BARU: Over the past 70 years, people in Kelantan have depended on underground water for their taps.

Kelantan water authority Syarikat Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd ( AKSB) is utilising the vast resources of underground water to supply its 1.4 million residents by using a technique from Germany called Telaga Jejari (Radius Well underground water extraction technique).

AKSB Technical Development Department head Wan Mohd Zamri Wan Ismail said states with acute water supply problems should consider using this technique to weather the annual dry seasons.

He said the water company had been using the technique of extracting underground water to ensure continuous and uninterrupted water supply for consumers statewide.

“Previously we had many problems supplying water from water plants and we faced even a serious problem of supplying water to residents during the drought year in year out.

“However since 2010, we have yet to have problems of supplying water to consumers from the 14 wells where water is drawn from the ground up to 40m to 50m.

“We estimate there are at least five thousand billion litres of underground water to be utilised,” he said .

In KOTA KINABALU, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the state was compelled to build a second dam in outskirts of the state capital to ensure sufficient water supply for the city and nearby districts until the year 2050.

He said the proposed dam near Kampung Kaiduan in Papar district would provide water to the tens of thousands of people in the state capital as well as the districts of Tuaran, Penampang, Putatan and Papar itself.

He said the state was aware that the project would affect those living in the vicinity of Kampung Kaiduan and a special Environmental Impact Assessment would be carried out for this purpose.