Penangites called to reduce water usage until Sept rainy season

The 593,255 registered domestic water users in Penang were called to reduce water consumption by 10 percent until the rainy season in September to avoid a water crisis.

Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) CEO K Pathmanathan said a 10 percent reduction would save 50 million litres per day (LPD).

“PBAPP data shows that a 10 percent reduction in domestic consumption in Penang in 2024 will translate into water savings of 50 million LPD.

“So, if every domestic water user in Penang can reduce water consumption by 10 percent, we will be in a better position to ensure sufficient water supply until the rains arrive in September,” he said in a statement today.

Pathmanathan said the low rainfall since January caused a decrease in the effective capacity of the two main dams.

This affected treated water production, which in turn impacted Penang’s water supply.

Reduced treated water production

He said yesterday, the Air Itam Dam (above) recorded a low effective capacity of 41.1 percent, while the Teluk Bahang Dam was at 31.9 percent.

Lower treated water production was also recorded at the waterfall water treatment plant due to a lack of raw water from the catchment area.

There was also lower production of treated water at the Sungai Pinang water treatment plant (WTP) due to the lack of raw water from the Titi Kerawang waterfall water catchment area.

“The lack of rainfall has also caused the water level reading to be below 2m at the Lahar Tiang in Penang for 16 days in a row since July 11, effectively causing the Muda Dam, which was built to release water into the Muda River, to drop to 9.9 percent on July 25.

“However, fortunately, the effective capacity of the Beris Dam in Kedah is at 60.2 percent and Kedah is releasing water into Sungai Muda while the PBAPP also releases the reserve of the Expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD) every day to increase the intake of raw water from Sungai Muda,” he said.

According to Pathmanathan, PBAPP needs to extract sufficient raw water from Sungai Muda and release water from the EMD to maintain optimal water production operations at Sungai Dua WTP which is Penang’s most important WTP.

He said PBAPP is activating a crisis management plan to minimise the impact of low rainfall and ensure Penang has enough water until the rainy season in September.

- Bernama

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