Perilous Times
Contamination leaves 1.2 million Malaysians without water
by Staff Writers
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Sept 8, 2010
More than 1.2 million Malaysians were without piped water Tuesday,
authorities said, as contamination from a landfill forced a treatment
plant to close.
National water distribution company Syabas said it was sending water
trucks and tanks to residents in the affected area in Selangor state,
which surrounds Kuala Lumpur, and also trying to redistribute water
from other plants.
It said the plant, run by the state water consortium, was shut down
early on Tuesday as part of an emergency action plan once the
contamination was discovered.
"The contamination from a nearby landfill leached into the Semenyih
river which provides the raw water being fed into the treatment plant,"
Abdul Halem Mat Som, Syabas corporate communications executive
director, told AFP.
He said authorities found ammonia contamination of 6.41 milligrams per
litre, more than four times the health ministry's acceptable level of
1.5 milligrams.
"As the plant treats about 600 million litres of water daily to supply
300,000 households, or more than 1.2 million residents in the area, it
had to be shut down so that action can be taken to stop the
contamination," he said.
"Once we have carried out a full investigation, we will know how best
to rectify the situation and for how long the water treatment plant
will be closed but this will take some time. The contamination is quite
extensive," he added.