Contamination at water plant

Star: PETALING JAYA: Raw water contamination caused by leacheate from a landfill has once again caused water supply to thousands of households in in Selangor to be cut.
Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) said high ammonia levels forced the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant near Kajang to be shut down at 8.30am yesterday.
The affected areas were in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang districts. The water treatment plant, operated by Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd, also supplies water to Putrajaya.
According to Syabas, operations resumed at 4.30pm when the ammonia fell below the 1.2mg per litre danger level.
However, the reservoirs were expected to take five to eight hours to fill up. The situation should return to normal by this morning, said the water authority.
Yesterday's incident was the second raw water contamination case in Selangor this year.
The first incident occurred in February when high levels of ammonia in Sungai Selangor caused tap water in several areas in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley to smell of faeces.
Syabas said in a statement yesterday that the high ammonia content was caused by leacheate from the Bukit Chembong landfill that is located near Bangi Lama.
It said the Department of Environment and the municipal council had been informed of the matter.
Syabas said checks by its executive chairman Tan Sri Rozali Ismail and staff at the landfill showed that on-going remedial works on a bund to hold back leacheate was not firm enough.
“We are worried that the situation may recur if there is heavy rain,” it said.
It added that Rozali had asked the municipal council to construct a stronger bund and take action against those who dumped rubbish in the landfill.
Syabas said its operation centres at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur as well as the four districts were on standby and ready to dispatch tankers and static tanks with water to affected areas.
It said consumers could contact its call centre Puspel on its toll free line 1800-88-5252 or SMS to 39222 for more information.