Air Selangor: Water de-stress under way

PETALING JAYA: Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor), the operator of most of the water assets in the state, said several initiatives are already in place to improve overall water services to consumers.
In a statement last Friday in response to a column titled “Water Stress or Man-made Distress” which was published in SunBiz on Dec 27, 2016, Air Selangor said one of its primary tasks is to improve the water supply reserves to 15%- 20% under a long-term water demand planning.
Currently, it said, the water supply reserve margin is hovering at an average of 4% and the usage demand rate is increasing at an average of 2.6% a year.
As at the end of November 2016, it said, the average water production was 4,817 million litres per day (MLD), while the maximum production capacity of Air Selangor’s 32 water treatment plants (WTPs) is 5,027 MLD.
“This translates to a reserve margin of a mere 4%, which Air Selangor needs to sustain until new sources come on stream starting with new WTPs, namely Semenyih 2 WTP and Labohan Dagang,” it noted.
Air Selangor said the overall reserve margin is projected to improve to more than 15% when Semenyih 2, Labohan Dagang and the Langat 2 WTP with new total production capacity of 1,430 MLD are commissioned starting from end 2017 to end 2019.
Last year, the state government initiated the development of two new water treatment plants at a total cost of RM800 million. The water treatment plants are expected to produce an additional water supply of 300 MLD when Semenyih 2 (100 MLD) and Labohan Dagang (200 MLD) are commissioned in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Apart from new water sources, Air Selangor said, it will be rehabilitating and refurbishing 90 unused reservoirs due to leakages beginning this year.
“Other efforts to further address the shortage and meet the current as well as future demand, include reduction of NRW (non-revenue water), aged pipes replacement programme and implementation of water conservation programme.
Air Selangor projects a targeted reduction of water consumption by 10 litres per capita per day through its ongoing water conservation programme, which will focus on education and awareness, installation of efficient water appliances and fixtures and legislative changes.
“The State Government through Air Selangor has also identified aged water pipes in 84 areas that critically needed immediate replacement to reduce the incidents of burst and leaked pipes in Selangor and Kula Lumpur,” it said.
Pipe replacement programmes are being implemented in stages from 2016 to 2019, it added.