The Selangor government has appointed an international consultant to study the causes of extraordinary turbidity (or sedimentation) of the Sungai Selangor since yesterday morning.

NONE Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has directed the appointment of an operational auditor from international consultancy Halcrow to check on this.

Four water treatment plants are affected by intake of raw water from the river - Sungai Selangor Phase 1 (SSP1), Sungai Selangor Phase 2, Sungai Selangor Phase 3 and Rantau Panjang.

“A report will be tabled to the state exco tomorrow,” he said in a statement.

The state Water Management Authority and Department of Environment have been directed to provide a full explanation, and to find ways to resolve the issue.

“The state government will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone found to be negligent, resulting in the pollution,” said Khalid.

“At the same time, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) is urged to make ample preparations should there be disruptions to water supply, while consumers are urged to conserve water.”

Production level down

News agency Bernama reported that some three million people in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur may experience disruption of water supply if the problem persists.

Syabas corporate affairs division executive director, Abdul Halem Mat Som, said turbidity has affected water production at the four plants, which supply 60 percent of the water required by these areas.

azlan "All the plants are producing less water due to the extraordinary turbidity detected at the plants since (yesterday) morning,” he was quoted as saying.

“Production declined from (the daily level of) about 2,460 million litres to 1,000 million litres (yesterday) after recording extraordinary turbidity of over 6,000 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) compared to 300 NTU on normal days, " he said

If the turbidity rate goes down to 2,000 NTU, then the plants can increase production, he added.