Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) has made yet another impassioned call to the federal and state governments to come to terms on the implementation of three projects to avert a

possible water crisis in the Klang Valley by 2014.

Syabas executive chairperson Rozali Ismail said the Sungai Langat 2 water treatment plant, the Pahang-Selangor raw water tunnel and the Salak Tinggi dam projects could not take off the ground due to differences between federal and state governments, particularly over land acquisition and water price.

He said the three projects must be expedited to meet rising demand for water supply in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, which grew by 3.5 percent yearly.

“The production capacity at existing water treatment plants is not adequate to meet rising consumer demand as it had reached the maximum level and could not be further enhanced.

“Water demand is expected to increase to 4,354 million litres per day (mld) at the end of this year against the low production capacity of 4,326 mld at existing plants,” he said.

On Jan 5, four areas in Selangor, namely Hulu Langat, Petaling, Sepang and Kuala Langat were hit by an unscheduled water supply disruption due to limited water production rates at the Sungai Langat and Sungai Semenyih water treatment plants, he said, adding that the problem could recur in future.

 The Sungai Langat water treatment plant is operated by Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd while the Sungai Semenyih plant is run by Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Berhad.

“Apart from low production rates at the water treatment plants, the dry spell and rising water use prior to the Chinese New Year also contributed to the water disruption,” said Rozali.

He said Syabas received 2,177 complaints on water disruptions from the four areas and dispatched 42 tankers to distribute water to residents.

Residents experiencing water disruption could contact the Syabas Customer Service Centre (Puspel) at toll free line 1-800-88-5252.