THE Selangor government suggested that Puncak Niaga upgrade the Salak Tinggi water treatment plant (WTP) instead of building a new dam in Ampang.
It was reported in StarMetro on Sept 30 (“Syabas plan for a dam in Ampang”) that Syabas has submitted a proposal to the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry for a dam to be built in Ampang.
The Salak Tinggi WTP was shutdown for the third time due to raw water pollution this year. According to information provided by Syabas, the shutdown was due to objectional odour, foam and high ammonia content.
State Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong said so far the state government had not received any suggestions from Syabas regarding to the matter.
Not safe: The ammonia content at the Salak Tinggi water treatment plant measured 1.72 parts per million (ppm) at 2pm on Sept 28. The permissible level is below 1.5 ppm. “Syabas should have discussed this with the state government before proposing the plan to the federal government.
“The reason given by Syabas that the Salak Tinggi water treatment plant has to be closed due to raw water contamination caused by high levels of ammonia does not make sense.
“Puncak Niaga, the company responsible for the water treatment plant, cannot assume that raw water that flows through the water treatment plant is below 1.5ppm as it is their responsibility to treat raw water with ammonia levels exceeding 1.5ppm,” she said at a press conference at the state government secretariat.
She added that according to an investigation by the Department of Environment (DoE, the pollution was caused by contaminated water from Sungai Nilai in Negri Sembilan converging with Sungai Labu (Sungai Labu supplies water to the Salak Tinggi water treatment plant).
“Just by shutting down the plant whenever the ammonia level is above 1.5ppm will not solve the problem.
“If the WTP manned by Puncak Niaga shuts down, it will incur high costs for the company and the state government,” she said.
The state government will have a meeting with Puncak Niaga and the DoE next week to solve this problem.
The DoE has advised Puncak Niaga to upgrade the Salak Tinggi WTP since 2006.
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