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PETALING JAYA: Frequent closure of water treatment plants is inevitable if effluents from factories, farms and commercial premises contain a high level of pollutants, says the Ministry of Environment and Water.
“Even cleaning activities in factories, plants and livestock pens could contaminate water sources if sewage treatment facilities are not available on the premises,” said its general secretary, Datuk Seri Zaini Ujang, in his publication of Facebook.
Without wastewater treatment facilities, dirt, manure, chemicals, and other waste would be discharged directly into drains.
“From the drains, the effluent would flow into streams without any intensive treatment,” he said.
Raw water intake points would have to be closed if the level of contamination increased.
“Only raw water with a low level of contamination can be treated in treatment plants to reduce the risk to public health,” he said.
“There are better technologies available to treat polluted groundwater sources and rivers, but the cost of installation and operation is high and the risk to public health is also high.
“The responsibility lies with the respective stakeholders to ensure that effluents are not discharged directly into waterways.”
He said discharge from residential areas would be channeled to the centralized sewer system operated by Indah Water Konsortium.
“Sewage from toilets, kitchens and sewers in most residential areas is connected to IWK’s centralized sewer system,” said Zaini.
The centralized system is equipped with a wastewater treatment plant to reduce the level of pollution before the treated wastewater is discharged into rivers or the sea.
“Those who use a septic tank should clean it at least once every two years,” he said.
In a separate post, Zaini said that the water supply to Bandar Baru Bangi and its surroundings was not affected, although two treatment plants were closed after odor contamination was detected in Sungai Semenyih.
He said consumers in the area were supplied with Phase II water from the Semenyih treatment plant.
“The Phase II plant draws raw water supply from the riverside reservoir originating from Sungai Langat (and not from the polluted Sungai Semenyih).
“The Semenyih Water Treatment Plant is divided into two phases.
“The phase I plant with 650 million liters per day capacity obtains raw water from Sungai Semenyih while the phase II plant with 100 million liters per day capacity obtains its raw water supply from the riparian reservoir (TAPS) it originates from Sungai Langat, ”he said.
“The closure of the Semenyih Treatment Plant only involves Phase I.
“Operations in Phase II of the plant continue, supplying water to Bandar Baru Bangi and its surroundings.
“Plans to build TAPS for Phase I have been in the works since 2017,” he said.
Putrajaya has a large deposit of 110 million liters of treated water.
“The supply (in Putrajaya) can last several hours, depending on the rate of use,” he said.
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