Malaysia: El Nino may spark water crisis

THARANYA ARUMUGAM New Straits Times 1 Jun 14;

KUALA LUMPUR: THE National Water Services Commission (SPAN) has urged water operators and stakeholders to be prepared for a water crisis in the event of a dry spell caused by the El Nino phenomenon.

Its chief executive officer, Datuk Teo Yen Hua, said the commission had met the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) on May 8 to brief water operators on the weather forecast.

"The severity of the extreme dry weather conditions will reduce availability of raw water resources, which is under purview of the state governments. Nevertheless, measures have been taken to mitigate possible impact."

The MMD has warned of a dry spell, which will begin as early as next month and last between six and 18 months, as sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean warm to levels similar to the onset of the El Nino phenomenon.

Teo said SPAN had called for water operators and stakeholders to:

MONITOR the water levels in rivers and dams;

CONTINUE cloud seeding;

ACTIVATE Water Supply Contingency Plans if water levels in rivers and dams decrease to a critical stage;
PREPARE for additional water supply relief facilities such as water tankers and static tanks to areas that are facing shortage of water supply;

IDENTIFY other possible alternative raw water sources; and,

IMPLEMENT water rationing when there is insufficient raw water.

Teo said SPAN had been assured by the state government and Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) that the raw water quality from proposed alternative sources such as hybrid off-river augmentation system is safe.

"LUAS has sent water samples to the Chemistry Department and the Health Ministry for testing, and found that the water quality complies with the requirements."

MMD commercial and corporate services division director Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said computer models surveyed by the World Meteorological Organisation suggested that El Nino thresholds would be reached by next month.

"If it occurs in July, it needs some time to interact with the atmosphere before the impact hits the country.
"The impact will probably begin in September or October over the eastern part of Borneo, which includes Sabah and parts of Sarawak, before spreading to the peninsula by year-end.

"However, the impact strictly depends on the intensity of the El Nino. Thus far, its intensity cannot be determined yet."

He said strong El Nino could lead to a dry spell as a result of reduced rain clouds.

However, he said, the impact would be minimal when the El Nino was weak or moderate.

"We are monitoring the El Nino situation by getting information from international research centres such as the Japan Meteorological Agency, USA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Centre and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Any developments will be announced to the authorities for further action."

Hisham said Malaysia would experience less rainfall during the southwest monsoon (late May to September), which could lead to forest fires, hot weather and decrease in water levels in dams.

"So far, our forecast indicates it will be a normal season for our country, except in June, where rainfall will be slightly below normal."

Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia president S. Piarapakaran called for SPAN to mobilise the Emergency Response Plan to ensure sufficient water supply if the need for water rationing arose.

He said the Selangor government should stop sand-mining activities that might further pollute raw water in rivers and beef up storage capacities for raw water in retention ponds along the river basin (but not former mining pools as heavy metal contamination is a concern).

Safety fears on use of mining pool water
SUZANNA PILLAY New Straits Times 1 Jun 14;

STUDIES NEEDED: Experts question Selangor's Horas project as water may contain high level of pollutants

KUALA LUMPUR: AFTER the announcement and groundbreaking ceremony of the planned Horas stormwater harvesting system and groundwater collection system at Kampung Sungai Darah, Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor recently, many still have questions about the project.

Horas, the acronym for Hybrid Off-River Storage Augmentation System, is a combination concept between off-river storage and horizontal collector well concept that contribute stormwater and groundwater to overcome the raw water shortage in Selangor especially during the drought season, said Universiti Malaya's environmental science and management programme lecturer, Dr Fathiah Mohamed Zuki.

The planned system in Selangor involves the construction of a reservoir, measuring 166 hectares and 23.5m deep, in a 235ha former tin mining area.

According to earlier news reports, the first phase of the reservoir, expected to be completed by July next year, would be able to provide 600 million litres per day (MLD).

During drought when the natural flow in Sungai Selangor is low, water from the mining ponds will be pumped out to augment the river (hence the name).

This will ensure adequate raw water for the three large treatment plants located a short distance downstream (namely the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2 and 3 water treatment plants).

In the second phase, the scheme will be further expanded to provide 3,000 to 5,000 MLD and this will be completed in 2020.

Estimated to cost RM405 million, the cost of the Horas project, which includes dredging works, will be borne by Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd in contra with the value of the sand, worth about RM100 million, that will be excavated from the deepened ex-mining ponds.

Fathiah said the Horas project was feasible as a long-term solution in terms of sustainability, if the implementation and the process management followed the procedure and regulations under the Environmental Quality Act (EQA 1974) and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA 1994) as planned.

She said any environmental risk and pollution to the water courses could be avoided after considering every aspect and impact that would exist for each activity during the construction work and its development stages.

Universiti Sains Malaysia's professor and water expert, Prof Dr Chan Ngai Weng, said people in India and other parts of the world had been using Horas for centuries, though they used natural ponds and lakes rather than ex-mining ponds.

"Horas is not rocket science and certainly nothing new, but this system is only feasible on a small scale to supply water to small communities such as villages. It is also a good alternative source of water to augment existing large dams."

"But it cannot replace the existing large dams and should not be used for urban water supply, given the high water demands of cities and industry.

"From a water safety point of view, mining pond water is not as safe as dam water. The Health Ministry needs to test the water quality more often and more stringently if pond water is to be used for consumption, as it is stagnant and generally of poor quality."

She pointed out that urban ponds received a lot of pollutants from point sources like factories and hospitals, as well as non-point sources such as roads, agricultural land, and urban surfaces.

She said the pollutants would all end up in these ponds and could cause eutrophication (explosion of algae) if the pollutants had a lot of nitrates from agricultural areas.

"If the high-tech method such as reverse osmosis or membrane technology is used, such as in producing NEWater in Singapore, then there is no question in terms of safety.

"But if we use the conventional water treatment process like what is the norm, heavy metals, pesticides and other dangerous pollutants may not be filtered away.

"Financially, the Horas system may not be as expensive as large dams. If it is true that a private company is paying fully for the cost of this project, then there should not be any question on finance."

Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer) president S. Piarapakaran agreed with Chan that the Horas system was a support system and should not function as a main raw water supply system.

"Especially not for Horas usage in ex-mining areas without a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report."
He said caution should be employed when developing Horas in an ex-mining area.

"It is already documented that many ex-mining areas that are eventually developed into a man-made pond system have heavy metal contamination. If use of these ponds is necessary, there must be proper studies and monitoring."

Piarapakaran said placing vertical tubes in mining areas along the Sungai Selangor river basin might also move the heavy metals faster to the groundwater regime.

"There is also possible impact to the function of the agricultural areas in the vicinity if certain aquifers are drawn down during this process.

"All in all, the only clear message that has been given concerning the project is that sand mining will be carried out first, which is directly associated with pollution to water as well."

At the moment, he said, the question was whether there was a proper study done because the processes, such as dilution, diffusion and absorption, and would influence the movement of heavy metals.

"We need continuous monitoring of the data at the source and not data after dilution only. They should check if the mining pools can be used as a long term storage area. This includes an EIA study.

"For example, if the mining areas are already contaminated, the groundwater water content around these areas is also contaminated. Heavy metals are in the form of ions (they are already dissolved in the water).

"This makes them mobile in two ways, groundwater movement (slow movement) and when you pump the contaminated water out to augment the river (fast movement)."

He said when the pond water was diluted by letting in excess storm water from Sungai Selangor into the ponds, the concentration of the heavy metal in the pond would reduce.

"Has there been any study on the diffusion impact of the contaminants (after diluting the pond water) over a long period? A sampling study over a period of 30 days on the quality of the diluted raw water should have been done.
"Our treatment plants are not equipped to remove heavy metal content, and this is Awer's concern."