Analysis reveals tap water in Klang Valley safe to drink

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Water supplied to homes in the Klang Valley from Sungai Selangor is safe to drink.
The New Straits Times collected tap water samples and water from Sungai Selangor and sent it for analysis last week and the verdict is that the tap water is safe to drink and did not contain high levels of ammonia.
The river water had a high level of suspended solids but the experts who carried out the analysis concluded that this was not a critical parameter in determining the safety of water.
At the beginning of the month, consumers in certain areas in the Klang Valley had complained of smelly tap water.
Investigations by the Department of Environment revealed that the Bukit Tagar landfill in Rawang, Hulu Selangor, was the cause of the foul odour as there had been seepage from the landfill into Sungai Selangor.
It was revealed that the foul smell was due to an exceptionally high level of ammonia in the water which seeped from the landfill.
On March 13, a New Straits Times team took tap water samples from a house in Petaling Jaya’s Section 1 whose owner had complained of foul-smelling water coming from the tap at the beginning of the month.
The team also took water samples from Sungai Selangor at three major water intake points in Batang Berjuntai.
The samples were sent to ALS Technichem (M) Sdn Bhd for testing.
The company’s environmental department account manager, Nurida Mohd Yusop, said the samples were tested using methods approved for examination of water and wastewater by the US Public Health Association.
"The analysis showed that the pH level, turbidity, metal and chemical contents were below the permitted level set by Standard B of the Third Schedule in the Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations 1979," she said.
She said if the substances were higher than the permissible level, it could contribute to health problems.
The results, she said, revealed that suspended solids in the river water were higher than the permitted level, at 159mg per litre.
The permissible level is 100mg per litre.
Nurida said suspended solids was not a critical parameter in determining the safety of water.
She said coliform and the E. coli bacteria were not found in both samples.
According to the analysis, aluminium, arsenic, chromium and copper were among the heavy metals found in the samples taken in the river water, which could be due to industrial waste or raw materials from industrial processes being washed into the river.
She said the tap water samples, however, revealed that most of the metals were removed at the plant before the water reached homes.