A DAP leader today urged both the Malaysian and Singapore governments to return the water dispute to the negotiation table as a continued impasse would be detrimental to consumers from both countries.

DAP national publicity secretary Ronnie Liu said the current war of words between the two sides is "counter-productive" since both countries stood to benefit from a water deal.

Liu said Malaysia should not gripe over the difference in the price that it pays for treated water (50 sen per thousand gallons) as compared to the sale price of raw water to Singapore (3 sen per thousand gallons) since it costs much more for Malaysia to treat its own water supply.