PUB’s waterworks in Johor stops operations after high ammonia levels found in Johor River

Today Online 4 Apr 19;

SINGAPORE — PUB’s waterworks in Johor stopped treatment operations on Thursday (April 4) afternoon due to high ammonia levels found in the Johor River, Singapore’s national water agency said.

The stoppage of treatment operations at the Johor River Waterworks disrupted its water supply to Singapore and some parts of Johor.

Water supply in Singapore is not affected, PUB said, as it has stepped up production at the desalination plants and waterworks here to meet demand.

“PUB is monitoring the raw water quality in Johor River closely and will resume abstraction and treatment of raw water when water quality is suitable,” the water agency said.

PUB’s statement on Thursday came after the Malaysian media reported that high levels of ammonia pollution in Sungai Sayong — one of the creeks that supply raw water to the Johor River — had disrupted water supply to about 17,000 households in Kulai.

Mr Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, chairman of the Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee, said that a reservoir at a bio-composite centre next to an oil palm refinery in Sedenak burst, causing the ammonia-contaminated water to flow into Sungai Sayong, the Star reported.

The Bukit Batu assemblyman said the incident occurred at around 7am on Wednesday.

Two water treatment plants had to be shut down that evening as they could not process the raw water due to high levels of ammonia.

On Thursday morning, another two water treatment plants had to be shut down.

Mr Puah said the authorities have taken action against the oil palm refinery, cancelling its raw water abstraction licence and serving a compound notice following the incident.

He also said that Kulai was the only affected area, adding that the water supply would be restored fully by about 10pm on Thursday.

Water supply to Singapore disrupted over ammonia pollution in Johor River
Channel NewsAsia 4 Apr 19;

SINGAPORE: The supply of water to Singapore was disrupted after PUB's Johor River Waterworks halted treatment operations due to the high levels of ammonia in the river, Singapore's national water agency said on Thursday (Apr 4).

A spokesman said: “PUB’s waterworks in Johor, the Johor River Waterworks (JRWW), has stopped treatment operations this afternoon due to high ammonia levels found in the Johor River.

“The stoppage of treatment operations at JRWW disrupted its water supply to Singapore and some parts of Johor. Water supply in Singapore is not affected as PUB has stepped up production at the desalination plants and local waterworks to meet demand.

“PUB is monitoring the raw water quality in Johor River closely and will resume abstraction and treatment of raw water when water quality is suitable.”

A high-level of ammonia pollution was initially found in Sungai Sayong, which supplies raw water to the Johor River, The Star reported on Thursday.

The river had become polluted after a reservoir at a bio-composite centre next to an oil palm refinery in Sedenak burst, causing the contaminated water to flow into the water body, said Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, chairman of the Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee.

About 17,000 homes in the Malaysian town of Kulai had their water supply disrupted because of the incident, the report added.

Malaysian authorities have taken the "necessary action" against the oil palm refinery by cancelling its raw water abstraction licence with immediate effect.

A compound notice has also been served, Mr Puah said.

Source: CNA/mi


17,000 Kulai homes go dry; supply in Singapore not affected by river pollution
Straits Times 5 Apr 19;

A high level of ammonia pollution in Johor's Sayong River, which has disrupted water supply to about 17,000 households in Kulai, also forced Singapore's national water agency PUB to stop treatment operations at its waterworks in Johor yesterday afternoon.

In a statement released last night, PUB said the shutdown at Johor River Waterworks, which it owns and runs, has disrupted its water supply to Singapore and some parts of Johor.

But water supply in Singapore is not affected, the agency added, as it has stepped up local production at the desalination plants and waterworks to meet demand.

It said it is monitoring the raw water quality in Johor River closely and "will resume abstraction and treatment of raw water when water quality is suitable".

Under the 1962 Water Agreement, Singapore can draw up to 250 million gallons of water a day from Johor River, and is obliged to provide Johor with treated water up to 2 per cent of the water imported. Singapore has been supplying more to Johor at its request.

Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said a reservoir at a bio-composite centre next to a palm oil refinery in Sedenak had burst, causing the ammonia-contaminated water to flow into Sayong River, which is one of the creeks that supply raw water to Johor River.

Mr Puah, who is also a Bukit Batu assemblyman, said the incident occurred around 7am on Wednesday, The Star Online reported.

"At around 6.30pm, both the Sayong 1 and Sayong 2 water treatment plants had to be shut down as they could not process the raw water due to high levels of ammonia," he said in a statement yesterday.

He added that the Semanggar, Johor River and Tai Hong water treatment plants had to be shut down.

He said the authorities have taken the necessary action against the palm oil refinery by cancelling its raw-water abstraction licence and serving a compound notice following the incident.

"The Johor government will not compromise over the incident and the Johor Water Regulatory Body has cancelled its water abstraction licence with immediate affect," he said.

Mr Puah said Kulai was the only affected area, adding that the water supply would be restored fully at about 10pm yesterday.

Water contamination has been a constant pain for Johor.

Last month, a water treatment plant in Simpang Renggam in Johor's Kluang district was closed because of ammonia pollution at Benut River, cutting water supply to about 75,000 consumers.

The closure came at a time when close to 6,000 residents in Pasir Gudang were affected by toxic fumes, caused by the illegal dumping of chemical substances into Kim Kim River in the industrial town.

The incident forced the closure of 111 schools in the area.

In October 2017, Singapore's water operations at Johor River Waterworks were also stopped temporarily because of ammonia pollution. The incident affected some 60,000 people in the area.

Several months later, the Malaysian authorities traced the source of that pollution to an unidentified poultry farm that produces fertilisers using chicken manure.