The Health Ministry will be increasing water testing at treatment plants in Selangor to ensure water supplied to consumers is not polluted by dangerous substance and is safe for consumption.

Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam said under normal procedure the testing frequency was once a month to check for chemicals and metals, but now it would be done once a week.

"If the Selangor government's decision to draw raw water from ex-mining pools is continued, we will step up testing to ensure the water supplied meets the Health Ministry's standards," he told reporters in Putrajaya today.

He was responding to a front page report in a local daily today which among others had alluded that water from the former mining pools was not safe for consumption.    

Subramaniam said according to sampling done two weeks ago, treated water in Selangor was determined to be safe for consumption and did not contain any dangerous elements.

    

He also urged the Department of Environment (DOE) and Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (Luas) to do continuous checks on the contents of raw water and issue warnings if there were adverse changes in the water quality.

"The cooperation of all agencies responsible is important to ensure raw water drawn and treated water are safe," he said, adding that if the ministry found raw water sourced in Selangor to be not safe, the state government would be asked to stop drawing the water from their respective sources.

- Bernama

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